This Kiss
by Cyberwolf
Summary: UPDATED. A Rukato fic, wherein a lot of things stem from a kiss. Some are nice. Some are not so nice. Sorry I missed the deadline. Oops? But anyway, chapter 14 is up, with Yamaki, Hypnos, Rumiko and the Tamers - oh my!
1. Best Friends?

Just In . Directory . Columns . Dictionary . Search Log In . Register Menu- Ad Blocker- Help- TOS - Credits- Privacy Anime » Digimon » **This Kiss** text size: (+) : (-) Author: Cyberwolf 1. Best Friends?2. This Kiss3. Worth A Thousand Words4. School Visit5. When Hell Freezes Over6. Earning Detention7. Awkward Encounters8. Going Bye Bye9. replies to reviewers10. Aftershock11. Meanwhile, Back At The LairPG - English - Romance/Humor - Reviews: 159 - Published: 12-25-02 - Updated: 12-21-03 id:1142012 

Disclaimer

_Oh if only I had a Guilmon_

_What a happy girl I'd be_

_With a D-Arc, and some digicards_

_To walk all over people who annoy me_

_But alas, alas, I don't own anything_

_That ain't the way the dice fall_

_So please don't sue, I have nothing for you_

_Bandai (and others) own it all_

***

            Who would have thought that, years after they'd defeated the D-Reaper, Takato Matsuda and Ruki Makino would end up being best friends? Certainly not Ruki herself – she actually never referred to him that way, preferring the titles '_Gogglehead', '__Him' and (the most recently-added to the list) '__Baka goggles'. _

            The fact remained, however, that Ruki and Takato spent most of their free time together – gave each other Christmas presents – talked on the phone – emailed each other – argued about the latest movies, technology and of course developments in Digimon – and visited each others' houses so often that they never bothered to knock anymore. In short, they do as best friends do. 

            But although Ruki was Takato's best friend some things never changed. Namely, Ruki's fierce competitive drive and her liking for beating opponents into the ground. Since Takato was the one she was around with most of the time, he ended up being the 'beaten-into-the-ground opponent' a lot.

            Digimon card battles; foot-races; games on the Playstation2; arm-wrestling (until Takato began coming into his growth spurt and thus into his full strength – Ruki stopped challenging him after that). Even winning something as minor as a thumb-wrestling match could bring a smile – alright, a smirk – to Ruki's face.

            Takato accepted all of Ruki's challenges – and his subsequent losses – with a cheerful amiability that brought some puzzlement to others. I mean, really, who likes to be thrashed again and again and again? But Takato never seemed to mind. And Ruki? The thought that Takato might not like to lose never entered her mind.

            This was the state of things for years. And then, one day – exactly five years, to the day, that Takato had first seen Ruki in a dream – all that changed. 

            They were in the park. Ruki was playing a hapless Kenta in a Digimon card battle, and was about to wipe out his only remaining Rookie with the same card she'd started with. Renamon watched quietly from above, on a tree-branch. Takato, Hirokazu, Juri and Jenrya were engaged in a noisy, riotous game of tag, not caring that as fifteen-year-olds they should have been above such things by now. Terriermon, Calumon and Guilmon ran about with their trainers, playing as well. (though Terriermon tended to escape from being tagged by leaping onto people's heads) 

            Jeri was 'It' and running after Jenrya, who was hampered by Terriermon clinging to his face and impeding his line of sight. Suddenly she did an abrupt turn and started chasing after Takato. Laughing, he ran backwards, sticking his tongue out at Jeri – until his foot hooked over a slightly upraised tree root. He lost his balance, letting out a startled cry as he toppled backwards, windmilling his arms in a frantic attempt to regain his balance. "AAAAGH!" 

Thump.

            "Takato!"

            "Takatomon!"

            Ruki looked up, just as she had laid down a winning card, and saw what had happened. She jumped to her feet and ran to the fallen boy, joining the crowd of kids. Guilmon was snuffling anxiously at his Tamer's side, golden eyes looking the farthest thing from feral. Jeri was looking a little teary-eyed. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…" 

            "Never mind it," Ruki said, in a voice that was just a bit too loud. "Takato's alright. C'mon, gogglehead, get up."

            Jenrya glared a little. "He just hit his head on a rock! I don't think that qualifies him as alright…"

            Takato sat up, which quite interrupted Jenrya's speech. "Oww…" he groaned, rubbing his head.

            Ruki shot the Chinese boy a triumphant look. She then knelt beside Takato. "Hey, goggles," she said in a voice gentler than before, "Are you…"

            "Takatomoooon!" Ruki was knocked to the side as Guilmon barreled into his Tamer, incidentally knocking the boy to the ground again. 

            "Takato!"

            "GUILMON!!" This was from Ruki. Renamon phased to her Tamer's side, holding her back from physically attacking the small red dragon. 

            Jenrya ground his hand into his forehead. "Here we go again…"

*** 

            Later that night, Takato called Ruki up at her house. 

            "Hey, Ruki. Tomorrow they're premiering that American movie, Daredevil. Wanna go see?"

            "Sure, why not?" Ruki agreed. Though to other girls this might have constituted a date, to Ruki it was nothing of the sort – just her and a friend agreeing to watch a movie that they would both have enjoyed. Romance, attraction, and teenage hormones had nothing to do with it.

            Really.

            "Okay. Meet you in front of the Cineplex tomorrow at ten…no, at eleven. I forgot, I have to bake Guilmon some bread. I promised him." 

            "Alright, eleven it is. If you want, I'll ask Renamon to hang out with dino-boy tomorrow, while we're at the movies."

            "Thanks, Ruki. See you tomorrow."

            Ruki frowned thoughtfully. "Hey, goggles…are you alright?"

            "Huh? Oh, you mean my bump. Yeah, it's okay. Why do you ask?"

            "You sound a little…odd."

            "I'm fine, Ruki. Really. More than fine. See you tomorrow."

            "…right. See you tomorrow." Ruki hung up and went to bed.

            Somewhere else in Shinjuku, a certain goggle-wearing boy did the same. Only a most uncharacteristic smirk was on his face as he did so.

*** 

            They returned home at around six-thirty, just in time to see the sunset. Takato was walking with Ruki to her house – it lay on the way to his bakery. The two fifteen-year-olds walked in companiable silence, content (though Ruki might not have used the word) with the sunset, the food they'd just eaten, and each other's company. 

            Until Takato stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Ruki. "Hey, Ruki."

            Ruki turned her head, not stopping. "What is it, gogglehead?" 

            "I know something I can beat you in."

            That got her attention. She whirled around and glared. "Stop talking nonsense, baka, you couldn't beat me if I let you."

            "Care to put it to the test?" Takato challenged her, smirking as he stepped closer to her, facing off. Ruki was about to snap back at him when she caught sight of a strange, unfamiliar glint in Takato's pale brown eyes. She felt suddenly uncertain, and took a step backwards. There was something…strange about Takato…

            The glint in Takato's eyes grew brighter, and he took one step closer to Ruki. 

            "H…hey, gogglehead…"

            Takato kissed her.

*** 

Submit Review Report Possible Abuse Add Story to Favorites Add Author to Favorites Add Author to Author Alert 1. Best Friends?2. This Kiss3. Worth A Thousand Words4. School Visit5. When Hell Freezes Over6. Earning Detention7. Awkward Encounters8. Going Bye Bye9. replies to reviewers10. Aftershock11. Meanwhile, Back At The Lair 


	2. This Kiss

Just In . Directory . Columns . Dictionary . Search Log In . Register Menu- Ad Blocker- Help- TOS - Credits- Privacy Anime » Digimon » **This Kiss** text size: (+) : (-) Author: Cyberwolf 1. Best Friends?2. This Kiss3. Worth A Thousand Words4. School Visit5. When Hell Freezes Over6. Earning Detention7. Awkward Encounters8. Going Bye Bye9. replies to reviewers10. Aftershock11. Meanwhile, Back At The LairPG - English - Romance/Humor - Reviews: 159 - Published: 12-25-02 - Updated: 12-21-03 id:1142012 

_You can kiss me in the moonlight_

_On the rooftop under the sky_

_You can kiss me with the windows open_

_While the rain comes pouring inside_

_Kiss me in sweet slow motion_

_Let's let every thing slide_

_You got me floating, you got me flying_

-This Kiss, Faith Hill

Anger instantly flashed through Ruki. Anger was familiar – especially when directed at Takato – it was the emotion that had defined her through most of her young life, had been her strength and focus and goal. Anger was good. 

Anger was also, unfortunately, slipping away. The usual Ruki-empowering rage was escaping her figurative grasp, replaced by shock and something unnameable. She just wasn't staying angry enough…

Valiantly, she sought to regain the fury. '_Angry thoughts!__ Angry thoughts! Think angry thoughts!' _

…he felt so warm….

_'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'_

_'How dare he!?' _

Yes, that was better. Righteous indignation. Time to pump herself up into dealing him grievous bodily harm.

_'How dare he!? How DARE he?!'_

Maybe she'd better add some clarification to that. One could only repeat a thought so long before it would start to lose its effectiveness.

_'How dare he be such a good kisser?!'___

There was something wrong with that picture. But by now Ruki was getting too distracted to pay attention to the anomaly in her thought processes.

Slowly her violet eyes slid shut, almost against her will, like fighting off sleep. One hand, then another, came up to clasp at the back of Takato's neck. She wasn't struggling anymore, as she had at the start of Takato's surprising move.

So they stood there, in the sunset light and the cool evening air, not even noticing when the streetlights around them flickered to life, and kissed. 

Ruki felt Takato grin against her lips – a slightly unsettling experience, to feel a smile rather than see it – and then step away from her, gently breaking the kiss. 

"See? I told you I could beat you in something. Bet you can't kiss better than me."

Ruki stared wordlessly at him, a little dazed, his words not really registering.

Takato smirked again, dropped a quick, light kiss on Ruki's cheek, and walked cheerfully off.

"See you tomorrow!"

It was a minute later when Ruki began to scream.

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	3. Worth A Thousand Words

_A picture is worth a thousand words._

_            -old saying_

            It wasn't easy being a supermodel.

            Oh sure, it _seemed _easy. All you had to do was be born with incredibly good looks, right? Then get discovered by some agency – pose while fashion designers draped their latest creations on you and photographers scurried about snapping away – and watch as the world fell all over themselves to treat you like divinity descended to earth. Right?

            Wrong. 

            The kind of good looks that agencies wanted in their models was more than just classic features and sculpted cheekbones. You had to keep your body fit and sleek and generally drool-worthy, and that involved hours wrestling with exercise machines, as well as living on a diet a rabbit would have rejected as too bland. And that wasn't counting the hours you spent on hairstyling, make-up, and studying which shades of fabric went best with your coloring.

            And then there were the hours. No steady nine-to-five with lunch and coffee-breaks here, folks. No – it was periods of rest followed by periods of intense activity, sometimes (a lot of the time, actually) in foreign countries which necessitated learning to live out of suitcases and on room-service.

            Sometimes it was almost – not quite, though – enough to make her want to reconsider her career.

            And there was the fact that modeling had placed a wedge in between her and her daughter. Ruki didn't approve of her mother's job, and even less of her mother's lifestyle. She resented it so much that she took pains to avoid even seeming like her mother, stubbornly holding onto the most non-fashionable, non-frilly, non-Rumiko-like style of clothing she could, as well as an attitude that was the polar opposite of Rumiko's.

            Rumiko glanced absently out the window as she passed by it on the way to the kitchen. Since she was uncharacteristically immersed in thought, the full significance of what she'd seen didn't impart itself on her until she was several steps past the window.

            When it did hit her, however, it hit her like a sledgehammer to the head.

            "Oh my god in heaven…" She rushed back to the window and gaped. That is, she gaped for a whole second before she was rushing off to her bedroom, actually picking up the hem of the skirt she was wearing so as to run. 

            She was back at the window within a very short while, this time with a state-of-the-art digital camera in her hands. How nice of Hikaru (her favorite photographer) to lend it to her. 

            Even if he didn't know he had.

            Anyway (cough) getting back to the story, Rumiko stood at the window, happily taking pictures and squealing like a much-younger girl when that cute goggleheaded boy (really Ruki was quite her mother's daughter to snag such a catch!) dropped a short kiss on her daughter's cheek. That was so sweet!

            She barely heard the quiet measured tread that were her mother's signature as Seiko came up behind the happily engrossed model. "What are you doing?"

            "Oh, hello mother," Rumiko said absently, angling the lens for a shot of the Matsuki boy walking into the sunset. Hey, you didn't hang around the best fashion photographers in Japan for years and not pick anything up. She pressed the shutter-button, sighing as a little beep announced the camera's memory was full. Just as well – all Ruki was doing was staring blankly after Takato, and by now you couldn't see him at all.

            She turned to face her mother, the wide sparkly smile that had helped catapult Rumiko Nonaka to supermodel status on her face. "Oh mother, today our little Ruki has finally…finally…"

            Seiko was actually alarmed at the sheer joy she saw in her daughter's eyes. 

            "…finally gotten a…boyfriend!" Rumiko burst into tears. Seiko reflected briefly how Rumiko was one of the few people she knew who really cried with happiness. 

            "This…calls for…a celebration!" Rumiko choked out through her half-laughing half-sobbing. "Can we…cook Ruki's favorite food?"

            What she meant was, 'Can _you_ cook Ruki's favorite food?'

            Seiko glanced once out the window, and froze a little. "Um, I don't think that's a good idea."

            But Ruriko had already gone into the kitchen, where Seiko could hear the clashings and bangings of various pots and pans being hauled out of the cabinets. "Do we have any curry sauce, mom?" 

            Seiko sighed, and walked into the kitchen to try and explain to Ruriko why confronting Ruki about whatever had just transpired between her and Takato Matsuki was not the brightest of ideas. She glanced once more out of the window, to see her furious granddaughter kicking at a poor defenseless telephone post. Chunks of wood were actually flying out of the post. 

*** 

first of all, let me thank everyone who reviewed. My first Digimon fic got zero, so this is a nice surprise. ^_^  Thanks to **crystal-dragon29, zx, ruriko-sakura, Kai Comsi, SerpentTreize, DarkMagician, Sugah-high, Shaman King,  Katherine the Great (btw, I always thought Ryo and Alice could go well together; and Leeri!) ****JoeCool, CanisBlack, Digital Damita, and Rukato 86. **

**Various comments**: first of all, I know the first chapter is somewhat less'n stellar. I comfort myself with the thought that it's just a place-setter for the other chapters. 

I'm sorry it takes me so long to update. I've got fics I haven't touched in more'n a year. I'm trying to change that though. This was meant to be a two-chapter humor, but it seems to have other ideas of its own…hope it decides to end before five chapters…^_^

Now, remember: frequency and quality of updates directly proportional to reviews! ;)


	4. School Visit

_I wish you'd look at me that way  
Your beautiful eyes lookin' deep into mine  
Telling me more than any words could say  
But you don't even know I'm alive  
Baby to you all I am Is the invisible man___

        -98 Degrees

***

        These were the things they said about Ruki Makino.

        "_You'd better not mess with her. Not unless you don't enjoy living."_

_        "You don't need a dagger to commit hara-kiri. Just go up and talk to Ruki Makino."_

_        "Don't make eye contact! Just look down, and back away. Make no sudden movements!"_

_        "Her? She's not a girl. She's some sort of mutant psycho-destroyer. Or something."_

_        "Aaaagh! It's her! Run, run!"_

_        "Trying to make friends with Ruki is more trouble than it's worth. More pain, too."_

_        "How'd such a cool mom end up with someone like her?"_

        And these were the things they said about Yana Lang.__

_        "I wish I were half as pretty as Lang-sama."_

_        "I heard that Shiine-san over at Shinjuku Polytechnic told his friends he's in love with Yana-san."_

_        "Yeah, him and the rest of the teenage male population."_

_        "Can you believe it? Iya actually tried to run against Yana-san in school elections. She lost by a landslide, duh."_

_        "__Yana_ Lang?__ She is, like, the Queen of this school."__

        In other words, two less similar girls ever walked the face of the earth. Red-haired, violet-eyed Ruki, with her ready anger and seeming lack of all instincts gentle; and black-haired (her many admirers called it raven or sable or midnight) Yana, with her big brown eyes. The only thing the two had in common was that they were both students of the exclusive St. Hebreke's Academy, an all-girls' school set in the middle of Shinjuku. (1)

        Ruki had absolutely no interest in St. Hebreke's complicated social hierarchy, nor in the boy-chasing/baiting her fellow students engaged in. (Mostly with the lads over at St. Kano's Academy, St. Hebreke's brother school) Contrary to popular opinion, Ruki did in fact have a life, but as she shared it with the friends she had made in her Digimon adventures, the other students didn't know that.

        So, let's review. St Hebreke's is a school ruled by a cadre of rather snotty and very privileged girls, whose leader is Yana Lang. The school pariah is Ruki Makino, who squandered all the popularity points having a supermodel mother got her by being, well, downright frightening.  

        The bell to announce the start of class had not yet rung, and the courtyard in front of the school was filled with teenage girls in the gray uniform of St Hebreke's laughing, chatting and generally doing what teenage girls do. In one of the farther corners, beneath a shade tree, sat Ruki Makino. There was a very noticeable absence of other students within a ten-foot radius of her. She was studying, her science textbook propped up in front of her, but she kept staring off into space for long minutes. However, since everyone was carefully avoiding her, no one noticed her uncharacteristic behavior. 

        Yana held court – there simply was no other word for it – in the front of the courtyard. If Yana was royalty, her friends were the nobility of the school.  Lesser mortals (i.e., the rest of the student body) hovered at the edges of their charmed circle, hoping for a flicker of acknowledgement. The members of Yana's group knew this, and were studiously ignoring the commoners. Their voices rang out, musical and laughing and happy, over the general babble of the courtyard like wind-chimes over the humdrum of a normal day.

        That is, until the arrival of Takato Matsuki ended all conversation. He pulled up in front of the school on his bike, in the black slacks and blazer of his school. Everyone stared as he got off the bike, set the kickstand, and walked into the courtyard.

        The sheer audacity! The sheer daring! The sheer yumminess! (2)

        These thoughts flickered through the minds of the girls as they watched Takato move towards them. Through some incredible quirk of circumstance (mostly because I, the author, declared it to be so) Ruki didn't notice the sudden hush over her schoolmates and remained absorbed in her textbook. 

        Takato strolled right up to Yana, the other girls making way for him like the Red Sea parted for Moses. They twittered excitedly as he neared, the rumors flying hard and fast. Yana did have suitors from other schools, yes, but never one from so far away as Shinjuku High. And this one was definitely one of the cutest ever to have come.

        Yana-sama's reputation as a goddess was growing!

        Takato came to a stop in front of Yana, smiling kindly at her. Yana smiled back, an unaccustomed bit of nervousness in the gesture, and subconsciously smoothed a hand over her long black hair. 

        "Could you tell me where to find Ruki Makino?"

        For a long moment, everyone stared at the brown-haired boy with sweatdrops on their head. Yana's mouth actually fell open before, aghast at this loss of dignity and poise, she snapped it shut. Then a rush of whispering began, greater even than the one for when Takato had arrived.

        "Did he say Ruki? As in Ruki Makino?"

        "The Digimon Queen?"

        "The Ice Queen?"

        "The…"

        "Hey, we're not allowed to curse here. It's a PG fic!"

        "True."

        "Funny, the boy doesn't _look _suicidal…"

        Yana gawked at him. Such a thing had never happened before – people _avoided_ Makino, not sought her out. She backed away from him, not taking her eyes off this stranger, before spinning around and running to her friends. They huddled in a circle, like football players before the game, discussing this turn of events. 

        "Yana-san, did he _really _ask for Makino?" 

        Yana hesitated, and then slowly nodded yes, which set off a round of dismayed cries.

        "He's too cute to die so young!" one sobbed.

        "Wait!" Yana said, perking up suddenly. "I get it! Don't you see – the boy must be Makino's cousin or relative or something! Why else would he want to see her, unless he _had _to, you know, because of being family!"

        The girls gasped at Yana's marvelous wisdom. "That must be it, Yana-san!" they squealed.

        "And if we help him, he'll be grateful, yes? And that way, we slowly but surely make him fall for me!"

        No one noticed Yana's change from 'we' to 'me', or maybe they were just used to it. Instead they just nodded happily at Yana's plan. As one, the girls spun around to face Takato, who'd been looking a bit confusedly at them. 

        "Right this way…" Yana let her voice trail off questioningly. 

        "Oh! My name's Takato. Matsuda Takato," he said, bowing. 

        "I'm Yana Lang," she said, smiling a little more flirtatiously at him as she walked towards No Man's Land (aka, Ruki's Territory). 

        "Nice to meet you, Lang-san," Takato said politely, happily oblivious to the large crowd of curious girls following the two of them. 

        "Oh, no need to be so formal, Taka-kun – I can call you that, can't I?" Here Yana used her tried-and-tested Boy Ensnaring Flirty Laugh™. "Just call me Yana."

        "Alright, Yana-san. Hey, is that Ruki?" Takato had caught sight of a familiar spiky red ponytail. He ran towards Ruki, all but forgetting Yana. 

        Yana's clique came up around her, all eyes riveted on the boy who was either heading towards his relative or his death. Maybe both.

*** 

        _'So kinetic energy is equal to the potential energy at the exact midpoint of any arc…'_

        Ruki had been repeating this principle over and over again. However, in between the saying and the memorizing, she would get distracted by some stray thought – mostly of Takato, but sometimes of the odd behavior of her mother and grandmother last night – and not memorize it after all.

        Yet _another_ thing to be angry at the goggleheaded one for. If only she could summon up enough anger to actually _be_ angry… 

        Suddenly her sight was obscured by a pair of hands over her eyes. The hands felt warm against her face, and she could catch a familiar, pleasant smell of bread and milk and somehow, of pinewood…

        _What the HELL are you noticing Gogglehead's smell for!?!?!_ a part of her cried in horror.

        For, yes, Ruki knew who it was covering her eyes with his hands even before the familiar voice said, "Hiya, Ruki!" She froze. What was _he doing here? It was a schoolday! This was her school! It was supposed to be her sanctuary from him today! How was she supposed to avoid him _now?__

        Takato removed his hands, and Ruki turned to face his grinning face. "Goggle…" But Takato again demonstrated his newfound lack of regard for his life by kissing Ruki.

        This, incidentally, shut her up.

*** 

        Absolute total silence had descended on the courtyard. There was a 'whoosh' sound as a breeze rippled through, stirring some leaves. 

        "Yana-san, that doesn't look like they're cousins."

        "…be quiet." 

*** 

(1) I know nothing about Ruki's school, so I made this all up. The other girls are based on a certain _barkada_ (clique) at my own all-girls school. (which I never have to attend again! Yay! Graduation is a wonderful thing :D) 

(2) In case I didn't hint it strongly enough in the past chapters, Takato has grown up to be quite cute. One might even say, bish. ^_^ Whether or not you agree with me as to his future yumminess quotient, just go along for now, please? It is needed for the story. -_^

Despite the quote on top, the soundtrack for this chapter is

_Crazy for this Girl – Evan and Jaron_

_If I Am – Nine Days_

_Absolutely (Story of a Girl) – Nine Days_

_Out of My League – Stephen Speaks_

_Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus_

Sorry it took so long for this to come up. Understand that this fic was supposed to have ended at chapter two, and so I had no idea where to take this. But now I think I have some inklings of a plot coming up. ^_^  Also, I was a little caught up in graduation. I am now totally free from high school. College here I come! YAAAY! :D

Wow! All those reviews for lil ol' me? Aww shucks. And from some of the Rukato authors who inspired me to write in the first place! (melts) 


	5. When Hell Freezes Over

Just In . Directory . Columns . Dictionary . Search Log In . Register Menu- Ad Blocker- Help- TOS - Credits- Privacy Anime » Digimon » **This Kiss** text size: (+) : (-) Author: Cyberwolf 1. Best Friends?2. This Kiss3. Worth A Thousand Words4. School Visit5. When Hell Freezes Over6. Earning Detention7. Awkward Encounters8. Going Bye Bye9. replies to reviewers10. Aftershock11. Meanwhile, Back At The LairPG - English - Romance/Humor - Reviews: 159 - Published: 12-25-02 - Updated: 12-21-03 id:1142012 

            She stood on a rocky ledge, overlooking an abyss filled with hellfire. The super-baked air resounded with the screams of tortured souls, the cruel inhuman laughter of those torturing the souls, and various other horror-movie sounds. Surprisingly – or maybe not - the background music for all of this was the Barney Theme Song, with the Teletubbies as the back-up singers.

            And then, impossibly, the roaring holocaust that was Hell suddenly froze. Each and every one of the huge flames suddenly turned into white-blue ice with loud crackles. From a temperature that was roughly equivalent to the surface of the sun, Hell now enjoyed the mild crisp clime of negative 1000 degrees. Celsius. The soundtrack screeched to a halt, along with the screams, groans, and pleas for oblivion. And then the noise started up again, with nearly every denizen saying, "What the (beep) (beep) (BEEEEEEEEPING) is going on?" 

            Hey, they're in Hell, do you think they care about keeping their language clean? 

            One of the larger demons, Subsection Chief of that particular part, clambered to the top of one of the needle-topped spires of rock that littered the ground, yanking icicles off his horns as he did so. "Hey!" he screamed to the technical staff as he reached his vantage point. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"  
            "I'm sorry sir!" yelped one demon as he scrambled around, checking gauges. "It's like this everywhere! Hell just froze over!"

            "What the heaven for?!"

            Another demon, five-eyed face bent close to his console screen, gasped. "I…I don't believe it…reports coming in sir! They're saying Ruki Makino just got kissed by a boy!"

            "On the lips?!" repeated the Subsection Chief in astonishment.

            "Yeah, yeah, on the lips! And…I don't believe it…the guy's still alive!" 

            A chorus of gasps echoed through the former inferno. 

            "Man, who ever thought _that_ would happen?" asked the Subsection Chief, shaking his head. "Well, now we're gonna have to spend at least five weeks de-icing the area. Damn! This hasn't happened since that Ranma guy finally chose a fiancée."           

*** 

            "Ohhh…" Claudia, a half-American student at St Hebreke's, came slowly back to consciousness. She became aware that she was lying on the ground, and her friends were crouched around her, worried. Well, all her friends except Yana-sama, who was more her idol than a friend. Yana-sama stood a short distance off, her big brown eyes staring hard at something. Claudia wondered briefly what it was Yana-sama was looking so intently at before she spoke to her friends.

            "Did I faint?" she asked, not as surprised as you might think. Claudia was what her family and friends called high-strung. (others, like that dreadful Makino girl, called her hysterical) She tended to faint a lot, at the slightest provocation. She couldn't remember quite what had triggered this one, though…

            "I just had this funny dream," she told her friends. The sheer hilarity of the situation was too good not to be told. "In it, Makino got kissed, and Hell froze over because of that! Isn't that a scream?"

            "Um, Claudia-chan?" said one of her friends hesitantly. "It wasn't a dream."

            Claudia turned her head to see Makino talking with an actual living breathing boy. And not a horribly-deformed freak of nature, as they had once joked would be the only such thing willing to be with Makino. In fact, this one was quite cute…

            Claudia fainted again.  
  


*** 

             Takato made good use of Ruki's induced silence to talk. "Hey, Ruki. Miss me?" he asked, grinning. "Look, I was just in the neighborhood, and I wanted to drop by, so…"

            "Goggles," Ruki said flatly, trying to ignore the way her heart was racing, "Your school is on the other side of town."

            "Not that far!" Takato protested. "Only half-way across town."

            "…anyway, what are you doing here?"

            "Well, I couldn't reach your cellphone, and I wanted to call you so that we could make plans for today!"

            "We just went out yesterday!" _I do not believe I just said that. That wasn't going out!_

"Yeah, but…" Takato kicked the ground. "Look, I…we…I think we need to talk."

            The boy's sudden reverting to a serious manner surprised Ruki. "You're right," she found herself agreeing. "We do."

            "Yeah. Um," Takato looked uncertain, a vestige of the slightly hesitant boy he had once been coming to the surface. "Do you want to meet at the Ucchan's Grill?" 

            _We DO need to talk, I guess. "Alright, gogglehead. After school."_

            Takato's grin came back on his face. "Cool! See ya then, Ruki-chan!" 

            "What did you just call me?! Hey, no one…!" Ruki trailed off, she would later say in anger but I say it was just in shock, as Takato dropped a light kiss on Ruki's forehead. He then walked off.

            Again the mass of girls who had gathered to watch this strangeness made a path for Takato as he walked back to his bike. He noticed it this time, looking at the students strangely before his watch made a little beeping noise. He glanced at the digital display.

            "Oh shoot! I'm late for school!" he exclaimed, leaping for his bike and pedaling away furiously. As he rode out of sight, nearly every head, which had been watching him, swiveled back in Ruki's direction. She gulped as she suddenly found herself the center of attention for nearly the entire school. 

            The bell rang to signal the start of classes. Ruki jumped to her feet and raced into the school, happy, for once, for that ear-shattering alarm. 

*** 

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	6. Earning Detention

            "So, Makino, how much did you pay him to act like your boyfriend? Must have been quite a lot," hissed a girl spitefully, leaning forward to whisper in Ruki's ear.

            Ruki grit her teeth, not taking her eyes off the Math teacher in the front of the room. Her grip on the gel pen she was using to take notes tightened until the plastic casing turned white from the stress. _Must not kill, must not maim, must not kill, must not maim…_

            "I mean," the girl – some bratty underling of Lang's, she couldn't remember the name – continued, leaning forward again, "Why _else_ would he have agreed to spend time in your company? It's not like you're ever pleasant enough that people _want_ to spend time with you." 

            Encouraged by the snickering of those close enough to hear the 'conversation', she went on. "Do you want so bad to fit in with us, that you want to try and pretend to have a boyfriend too? It'll never work, you know, because…"

            The Math teacher turned back to the blackboard. 

            Immediately, Ruki gave the girl a backhanded jab, followed by an elbow that unerringly found its way to the girl's twice-done-over nose. The girl collapsed to her desk, moaning in pain. Blood leaked out from between the hands she held clasped to her face.

            "Hinako-sensei?" Ruki said in her most innocent-school-girl tone of voice as she raised a hand. "I think the heat caused Mya-san's nose to start bleeding!" _Hah, remembered her name in time. _ She gave a sympathetic glance over her shoulder. "I think someone ought to take her to the infirmary."

            "Why, I do believe you are right," Miss Hinako said in surprise, bustling over as she adjusted her round-framed spectacles. She bent over Mya's desk, clucking over the girl. "Ruki-san, would you be so kind as to escort Mya to the infirmary? Since you were the first one to see her."

            "Of course, Hinako-sensei," Ruki said respectfully. She got to her feet, taking Mya's arm and helping her to the doorway. As the classroom door shut behind them, Ruki dropped Mya's arm as if it had been red-hot. 

            "Oh don't give me that look," she said in disgust as she saw the venomous glare Mya's eyes – over the hand she still held over her nose – gave her. "I could have hit you really hard, you know – broke your nose instead of just made it bleed. Now c'mon."

            She settled back in her seat a few minutes later, and glanced around. "Anyone else want to make a crack about me?" she said, lowly enough to be unheard by the teacher but loud enough for everyone else to have heard her.

            Complete and utter silence was the answer.

***

            "I don't appreciate your viciously assaulting one of my friends," Yana said angrily, slamming her hand down on the surface of the lunch-table. Behind the petite beauty stood the group of her friends, all similarly glowering at Ruki. Mya was noticeably absent, having been sent home from school with her nose covered in layers of gauze.

            Ruki snorted mentally. She hadn't hit Mya that hard – it wasn't the actual injury that was making the other girl cry, it was the knowledge of a ruined nose-job.

            "Friend? Don't you mean lackey?" Ruki asked dryly, not lifting her eyes from the exquisitely-prepared bento her grandmother had made her. She took an insultingly casual bite of rice.

            Yana's eyes narrowed and she clenched the hand currently splayed on top of Ruki's table into a fist.

            "Listen, Makino…"

            "Why should I? In all the excruciatingly long years I've known you, you have never once said anything worth the neurons I would waste remembering it. I don't think you have the necessary IQ to think up something I would want to remember. So, anything you say to me would be a waste of your time, and mine, since I'm not going to pay attention to you anyway." The entire time during her contemptuous speech, Ruki had not once looked up from her lunch. Now she did, in the midst of the shocked silence that had followed. "What, are you still here?"

            Yana's eyes had gone from narrowed to completely bugged-out. She was _Yana__ Lang! NO ONE, not the teachers, not her friends, not her parents, not her agent, talked to her like that! Not even Makino, who had been born rude and had only gotten worse with time, had ever talked to her like that._

            "You little _bitch!" _she hissed with considerable venom, rearing her hand back for an open-handed slap. However, her wrist was caught before she could make contact with Ruki's face. She tried futilely to twist her hand from Ruki's surprisingly strong grip. 

            "Let go! What, just because you have a boyfriend now, you think you can prance around school without worries? He'll take _care_ of you? Well, I'll have you know…" Yana was about to go on about the multitude of suitors she had ready to defend her honor, but Ruki's tightening of her grasp choked the words into a half-shriek of pain.

            "You know, you picked a _really _wrong day, and a _really wrong insult, to mess with me."_

            And with that, Ruki used her free hand to gather up her bento and smash its remaining contents onto Yana's head.

*** 

            Ruki sat quietly in detention, rifling through her deck of Digimon cards rather than doing the homework she had been assigned. However, the teacher assigned to proctor this period of detention was as blind as a bat and going deaf, to boot, so she wasn't really worried. 

            She thought back to that lunch period. Unlike her altercation with Mya during Maths, too many people had seen her give Yana a new, katsudon-scented hairdo to let this skate. Besides which, she had thought she was going easy on the snotty little (untranslatable) but she must have been a _little angrier than she thought – she'd left fingerprint bruises on Yana's wrist. _

            So, here she was, in detention. Luckily, her mother hadn't been home and the school had called her grandmother instead. Seiko would at least hear Ruki's side of the story before launching into the 'Please try to get along with your classmates, or at least not injure them, they are humans too' lecture. Her mother might have just gotten hysterical. 

            Ruki sighed and thumbed the edge of a well-worn Agumon rookie card. She'd won this one off Takato some years ago and she…

            Oh hell. She'd forgotten to call him about the change of plans. And she'd had to surrender her cellphone at the start of detention. 

            _Guess he'll just have to wait for me._

*** 

            "Are you…sure about this, Yana-sama?" carefully asked one of Yana's clique. 

            "Of course I am," snapped the newly-showered, newly-shampooed, newly-changed Yana. "You heard the boy tell Makino where they were supposed to meet, ne? And since thanks to Makino's brutality and stupidity, she's stuck in detention, the boy will be alone. Perfect chance for some payback."  
            "…how?"

            Yana stopped and stared at the hapless one who had asked the question. When she replied, her voice was full of incredulity that anyone could miss the point.

            "We steal her boyfriend, duh."

*** 

AN: Supposed to post this up on 04/29 (my birthday! Yay! ^_^) But had to rewrite an entire section. Much happier with the end-result, though. The first was (shiver) really bad. 

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Here are some replies to the questions…

**ClassicCowboy: **heh, I like the choices. Maybe we'll see some of them in the future…

Takato: (hopefully) Really?

Ruki: Obviously, Cyber is talking about the first choice _only._

**FusionBlaster: **Who's the Big Man? Sorry, just curious. ^_^ Thanks for the nice encouraging comments!

**Neverwhere: **Yay! Rukato Forever! ;D And now I'm really on-edge for _The Paths Between, especially since __The Lost Years seem to be winding down towards the climax and end. _

And yes, the Smallville references are deliberate. (grins) Annoys my bro something much, too. Chloe/Clark! Chlark! 

**AnT: **Takato's OOCness will be addressed in further chapters. Although it is _fun to write him like that, I know he isn't really. Though, (shrug) who knows, right? Still has some years before he's grown…And, I was really flattered by your comparison to Daneel Rush. ;) His stories are __intense. Wish I could spin out epic-plot like that…_

**SerpentTreize: **Thanks for your nice comments! And yes, Ranma is fun to insert, isn't it? ^_^ I'll see what I can do about a cameo. As for Takato's OOCness, I'll repeat what I said to **AnT -  wait** and see. I do have an explanation. 


	7. Awkward Encounters

Just In . Directory . Columns . Dictionary . Search Log In . Register Menu- Ad Blocker- Help- TOS - Credits- Privacy Anime » Digimon » **This Kiss** text size: (+) : (-) Author: Cyberwolf 1. Best Friends?2. This Kiss3. Worth A Thousand Words4. School Visit5. When Hell Freezes Over6. Earning Detention7. Awkward Encounters8. Going Bye Bye9. replies to reviewers10. Aftershock11. Meanwhile, Back At The LairPG - English - Romance/Humor - Reviews: 159 - Published: 12-25-02 - Updated: 12-21-03 id:1142012 

            Takato looked again at his watch, confirming – yet again – that, yes, it was four-thirty in the afternoon. He tapped the watch-face with his finger, checking that it was working correctly.

            _Strange…I could have sworn that Ruki was out at three-thirty…_

The thought that perhaps Ruki might have ditched on the aforementioned meeting never occurred to Takato. '_She's held up' or '__My watch isn't working' or '__Some_ great big destruction-bent Digimon showed up'_ were much more likely possibilities in his mind. Ruki, do something so rude? Never! Sure, she might hurt him nearly to the point where he required medical assistance; she might insult his abilities at, well, everything; but not show up? Naaaaah.___

He fished out his cellphone and dialed Ruki's number – it was on auto-dial, he called her so often – but all he got was a busy signal. He sighed and stuck his cell back in his pocket. 

            "You ready to order, sugah?" 

            Takato looked up at the tall, pretty brunette who had spoken to him. "One of your seafood specials, and an iced tea, please, Kuonji-san," he said politely. The twenty-three-year-old nodded and moved to get his order. Takato had wanted to wait for Ruki, but he was hungry now. Besides, he could always order another.

            In a few seconds – Ucchan's was famous for, among other things, the speed of its service – a plate of okonomiyaki had landed in front of him. A tall glass of iced tea slid down the counter at dangerous speeds before screeching to a halt precisely beside his plate. Thin tendrils of friction-caused smoke drifted upwards from the bottom of the glass. Takato sweatdropped before preparing to tuck in.

            He was about to chomp on a mouthful of succulent, shrimp-topped goodness when someone abruptly sat themselves on the bar-stool next to his.

            "Hello, Taka-kuuuuun," purred a feminine voice. Takato, still holding a bite of okonomiyaki poised in his chopsticks, turned his head to meet a pair of huge brown eyes looking deeply into his. From a distance of maybe two centimeters. "Fancy meeting you…"

            "Yaaagh!" Startled, Takato tumbled backwards, incidentally flinging his chopsticks up. Yana's eye twitched as, for the second time that day, food landed with a 'splat' on her carefully done hair.

            A cone of trembling silence filled the space between them.

            "Ooops. Oh, man, I'm really very sorry about that…" Takato stammered, leaping to his feet. He didn't know whether to try and get her some tissue or to bow profusely. 

            "Ha….ha….ha…." Yana laughed, although each 'ha' was unusually long and her voice trembled, as if she was trying to keep it under control. It was unusually shrill, too. "Never mind, Taka-kun, it was a mistake. Excuse me for a moment…"  Takato blinked as Yana zipped away, leaving an afterimage of herself.

            Within moments, as promised, she was back, her black hair once again immaculate. "Now, Taka-kun, once more, from the top." She coughed delicately, and then began to speak again. "Fancy meeting you here!" Yana said as she sat back down. Takato shifted uneasily; she was sitting close to him. A little too close. A little too let-me-have-some-space-you-whacko! close. 

            He inched away slowly, stopping only when he was nearly falling off the stool. And _still she came nearer, until she was sitting more on his seat than on hers. _

            "Um…Yana-san…" How did one go about politely telling someone to back the hell off? 

*** 

            Takato was _not happy. He'd had to sit here, listening to Yana rattle on and on and _on_ about her, her suitors (for some reason she kept glancing weirdly at him when she did so) her, her friends, her, her highly placed, influential and famous family, and what Takato was beginning to understand was Yana's favorite subject: her. Further, since the girl _insisted_ on taking up all the space, for the past half-hour he'd been stuck in the muscle-crampingly uncomfortable position of practically hanging off the edge of his seat._

            Takato sighed and signaled the proprietor of Ucchan's to bring him another drink. The older girl gave a little smirk as she slid his glass down the bar, as if she found the entire situation hilariously familiar. Takato wondered briefly where _that thought came from before sighing and downing his iced tea. _

*** 

            Yana was _not _happy. What was with this boy? She was pulling out all the stops – maneuvering herself close, so that he _should have been blushing and stammering at her proximity; she'd talked about her numerous suitors, but he hadn't gotten that jealous glint in his eye; and he hadn't been impressed by her accomplishments, her _extremely_ influential family or her social standing. What was wrong with him?!_

            If snagging him wouldn't have been wonderful to rub in Makino's face – and if the boy hadn't been gorgeous – Yana would have thrown her hands up in disgust and stalked out. 

            The television set above the bar suddenly began to show a short news segment regarding the latest acquisition of Bandai Corporation. 

            "…and we hope to use Shinohara Industries' technology to bring a whole new dimension to our Digimon card game…." An earnest Bandai spokesman was saying on the TV.

            Yana could remember that time five years ago when Ruki had become famous for – pfft, yeah right – _saving _the world. What a load of tosh! She had simmered angrily for days while the school buzzed with Makino's new-found fame. How dare Makino, that nobody tomboy, upstage _her?! It was just a publicity stunt by that stupid Banzai or whatever company. She had had to labor ceaselessly to ensure that the hubbub about Ruki and her idiotic card game died down, and she was restored to her position as unchallenged Queen.  _

            As a result of that _awful _time when people were treating Makino like some sort of _celebrity_, Yana absolutely _loathed_ Digimon and anything to do with it. She gave vent to her feelings by sneering at the television. 

            "Oh please!" she said, interrupting her monologue on herself to rant about Digimon. "As if that dumb _card game_ deserves airtime? It's only for _babies_ and people who are too _brain-dead _to have real lives." 

            Now why was Taka-kun gaping at her like that?

***

AN: I _cannot _believe that it's nearing the end of my summer and I've only written a few fics. This has been most unproductive. (sigh) I need to discipline myself to write more. Anyone have any hints on how to get momentum for writing?

In regards to the Yana-steals-Takato plot, I never intended Ruki to do the whole 'How _could _you, you cad?!' thing. It's funny if done well, but I don't think I can do it. Especially not in this fic. Maybe one day I'll take a crack at it, but not now. So, don't worry Archangemon, AnT. 

I just wanted the chance to bash on Yana more. (grins) It's _wonderful_ therapy. I think there'll be more in the next chappie. There's no one really bash-worthy (to me) in Digimon 03, so I had to make up my own. (smiles beatifically)

Short chapters again, but at least the next is in production, I swear. Being written in another window this very minute. (it seems my brother using the Net connection so I can't use up all my time surfing for fics is good for productivity) BTW, is it just me or did the supply of Digimon fics suddenly freeze? I _swear_ that the same fic's been at the top of the ff.net page for the past three days.  

I'll try to reply to reviewers but right now I can't access my reviews page, so I'll have to do it next chapter. On the plus-side I've finally broken the triple-digit reviews barrier! I've only ever been able to do that on my GW/Esca fic! Thank you! :D If I could draw worth a plug nickel I'd do celebratory fanart or something. 

**Soundtrack for this chapter**

U-Turn by Usher

How You Remind Me by Nickelback

Cartoon Cartoon theme song (baby siblings + TV in room = unwilling listener)

Carmen Caprice (Acoustic) by the Planets

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	8. Going, Going, Gone

_ Sometimes I need to remember just to breathe   
Sometimes I need you to stay away from me   
Sometimes I'm in disbelief I didn't know  
Somehow I need you to go   
Don't stay   
_-Linkin Park 

            Guilmon, who hadn't seen his Tamer at all that day, snuffled disconsolately around Shinjuku. The small red dragon was stared at a lot, but most people had become used to the idea that there were Digimon amongst them and Guilmon was able to go his way unchallenged. 

            Guilmon looked up a moment before the air beside him seemed to ripple, and Renamon suddenly phased into existence. The passers-by jumped in startlement, but neither Digimon paid them mind. 

            "Hiiii Renamon!" Guilmon chirped. "Have you seen Takatomon?" 

            "No, I have not," Renamon replied in her quiet voice. "I am going to seek Ruki at her school. She is late coming back home, and she has not told me any after-school plans."

            "Ohhh-kaay!" Guilmon said, waving a claw 'bye-bye'. "I going to go look for Takatomon then!" 

            "Goodbye, Guilmon," and they took their leave of each other, Renamon phasing back into invisibility. Guilmon continued to trot through Shinjuku, muzzle in the air, sniffing for a trace of Takatomon. Golden eyes widened in delight as he finally found it. He began to race down the streets, following his nose, his heavy footfalls causing tiny vibrations to travel down the bones of by-standers. 

            He skidded to a stop in front of a restaurant with a sign in front of it proclaiming 'Ucchan's'. "Takatomon!" he cheered, pushing the door open with his nose and peeking in. The various patrons inside stared as the sound of the door-chimes announced Guilmon's entrance. 

            Several yelped in surprise at what very much appeared to be a dragon-velociraptor hybrid, but most – longtime patrons of Ucchan's and therefore used to strangeness – just shrugged and returned to whatever they were eating. 

            Guilmon entered the restaurant completely, with a friendly wave to the brown-haired owner, who usually had a tidbit for him. Takato and Yana, who had been seated towards the end of the bar, hadn't noticed Guilmon's arrival.

***      

Takato was still perched on the very edge of his stool, trying to keep as much distance as possible between himself and Yana. 

            "…for _babies and people who have __no lives!" Yana was just proclaiming, causing Takato's face to pale, turn red, and then pale again. His mouth dropped open just slightly as he stared at the girl next to him. _

            As his friends could tell you, Takato was almost unnaturally easy-going. Years spent in Ruki's company, not reacting to her jibes and competitive streak, had heightened this trait even more, to the point that angering – really angering, not just annoying or play-acting anger – the Tamer was considered to be a major undertaking. 

            His friends could _also_ tell you that if ever he _did get angry, it was not pretty. It was not exactly that he kept angry feelings to himself, letting them build up and fester like other people – it was more that when he finally let go and succumbed to rage, he did so completely and totally, to a degree unachievable by most others. There was no fear, no second-guessing, no wondering. The unleashing of Megidramon, in the Digital World, was just a more dramatic manifestation of this trait._

            Yana had just managed to get him angry.

            Let's examine this phenomenon more closely, shall we? 

            In the first place, Takato was a true fan of Digimon. He couldn't even really remember a time when he _hadn't_ been enamored of the game – he had been hooked young. All his best friends, save Jeri, had become his friends because of Digimon. It was his hobby, his interest, his extracurricular. 

It didn't matter that he wasn't one of the best, the way Ruki or Ryo were. He didn't play to win – he played to have _fun_, and that was all that mattered. 

So…his was the frustration of the Star Wars fan when people ask if Luke Solo piloted the _Enterprise__. His was the annoyance of a golfer when people snickered over the game. His was the rage of an RPG freak when people called Final Fantasy too boring. His, in short, was the anger of the __otaku. (1)_

            And many will attest to the power of the _otaku'_s love for his domain.

            Now, his best friend was Ruki. No question about it. 

That was because 'friends' did not adequately describe what he shared with Guilmon.

 It is an oddly freeing experience, one he realized he was very lucky to have, to know there is someone who will always, _always have your back; to have someone who you can talk to about anything, anytime, anywhere; to trust in someone else so completely that you can let even your very consciousness be melded with his. Guilmon…there was almost no difference in Takato's mind when he thought of himself and of Guilmon. _

_***_

_            Well, except for the fact that Guilmon can breathe fire, _Takato thoughtfully reminded the author. _And that he's reptilian and I'm a mammal. And that he can evolve into a red sort of Gojira and cyber-versions thereof…_

"THANK YOU, TAKATO," the author loudly proclaimed.

*** 

            It wasn't that he and Guilmon were around each other every minute of the day. Takato had his life as a Japanese teenager, and Guilmon had his…well, Guilmon had his playtime. It was just that…

            He thought in terms of 'we' a lot. He imagined it was a lot like how twins thought; always including one other in your plans and dreams and aspirations, and never forgetting to because…well, because it was natural to do so. 

            So, when someone insulted _what_ Guilmon was, and the game that had been the reason they'd become partners…well, it wasn't pretty.

            Yana was staring at him, a tiny part of her that wasn't totally obsessed with fashion, boys, and herself – the part that still had access to survival-type things like instinct and common sense – screaming '_Fear! Fear! And run, for heaven's sake, run!' at the look in Takato's eyes. _

            Then the tiny part remembered that Yana never listened to it about Ruki, so why should she start now? It went off to sulk.

            Takato opened his mouth to speak, anger finally making its way onto his expression and thinning his mouth into a hard line. But before he could say anything, a growly yet somehow cute voice interrupted him. 

            "Takatomon?"

            Both teenagers turned in their seats (the movement almost causing Takato to fall off his precarious perch) to see a large red dinosaur-dragon looking at them curiously. 

            "Guilmon!" Takato exclaimed.

            "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" shrieked Yana.

            'Blink blink' went Guilmon.

*** 

            Yana was still looking wonderingly at Takato's face, feeling a little uneasy as his eyes went absolutely flat with anger. It couldn't be at _her, could it…?_

            And then a figure from her nightmares chose that moment to make itself known. 

            "Takatomon?" growled a hideous demonic voice. Yana turned to find a large red – like blood! – dinosaur, no, dragon, no, some horrible mutated mix of the two. It had powerful limbs – to hunt prey down! – and _fangs_, and _claws_, and these _things that looked like __demon wings sticking out of its head! And it had…oh, the shuddering horror of it…it had these unnatural __golden eyes, like a wolf's or a hawk's or _something…__

            As if to pound in the fact that the thing was dangerous, there was a huge hazard sign emblazoned on the white chest.

            Not many people knew it, but when Yana was small her parents had taken her to watch Jurassic Park. She had come out of the experience horribly traumatized and possessing a phobia for reptilian creatures of any type, and most especially dinosaurs. She had always thought that this was a fairly manageable phobia, since when do you see dinosaurs in real-life anyway?

            Then…this…this _thing _showed up.

            Yana shrieked. And shrieked. And shrieked. Ukyo cursed as several glasses shattered. Takato covered his ears with his hands, as did most of the other patrons. Guilmon, with his more sensitive hearing, was in agony, and couldn't help giving a little roar of pain.

At that Yana jumped to her feet and took off, running as if all the demons of Hades were on her heels.

***

            Ruki, sighing as she glanced at her watch, began the five-minute walk to where the Ucchan's was. When detention finally ended, she had reclaimed her cellphone only to discover that the battery had died, so she couldn't phone Takato. She would just check Ucchan's to see if he was there, and if not just call him later to apologize…

            _Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up a second. Did I just contemplate _apologizing_?_

Renamon's sudden appearance at her Tamer's side broke off Ruki's train of thought. "Hey Renamon."

            "Ruki," Renamon replied. "Are you alright? You are late coming home."

            "It's nothing. I just had detention again – I smashed my lunch onto Yana's head."

            Renamon, who knew of Ruki's abiding dislike for the other girl, nodded. "So you are going home now?"

            "No, I have to meet Taka…goggles at Ucchan's."

            "I see." 

            Ruki glanced suspiciously at her Digimon. Of course Renamon was the most expressionless of the Digimon, but after five years of association Ruki could gauge her mood well. And had that been a _smirk_ behind her tone?

            "And what do you mean by that?" she demanded.

            "I have no idea what you are talking about," Renamon said in a too-innocent, too-expressionless voice. 

            Ruki's fists unconsciously clenched. The whole day had been stressful and strange, and to realize that her Digimon had been hanging around Terriermon too long…

            A patter of running feet reached their ears and both girl and fox-Digimon looked up sharply. Renamon phased into invisibility, jumping to the top of a nearby streetlight – giving Ruki a clear field yet close enough to leap to her Tamer's aid should Ruki need it.

            And then Yana came into view. Her jet-black hair was in disarray, and her wide brown eyes were dilated due to fear. Her face was flushed and sweaty, and she clutched at her side as if she had a stitch there. Altogether not as poised and in control as Yana liked to appear.

            Ruki only had time for one astonished "Lang?" before the other girl was shaking Ruki by her shoulders, screaming something about impending death, ripping teeth, and Jurassic Park come to life. 

            Renamon, seeing her Tamer being physically assaulted, prepared to bodily remove Yana from the vicinity, but before she could leap Yana glanced behind her, shrieked shrilly enough to make Renamon's fur stand on end, and took off again. 

            Ruki and Renamon were startled to see Guilmon turn the corner. He ran to them, smiling. "Hi Ruki, Renamon!" They only stared at him with sweatdrops.

            "Guilmon," Ruki demanded, "What on earth are you doing?"

            "Chasing girl with painful voice. Takatomon said to. He said to run after girl until she is – " Guilmon's face scrunched up in thought as he recalled his Tamer's exact words. " – until she so far away Takatomon cannot see her through binoculars, or hear her either."

            Guilmon's face brightened. "She scream like Bansheemon, but it's fun to play tag!" His tail wagged. 

            Ruki could not help a very large smirk curving her mouth. Familiar as she was with the mindsets of Yana and her ilk, and considering the way they had stared at Takato that morning as if he were a piece of meat and they were starving dogs, she could guess what Yana had been doing near Takato. 

            And apparently she had succeeded in irritating Takato almost as much as she irritated Ruki. It was always _so_ nice to have people you liked hate the same things you do. (2)

            "Okay, I see. Go on, Guilmon. Renamon, why don't you go with him? Make sure Yana enjoys…the game." 

            Renamon nodded. "Yes Ruki."

            Guilmon waved good-bye as he ran off again, Renamon flashing on the rooftops beside him. 

            Ruki's smirk widened even more until it was nearly a grin, as she set off towards the Ucchan's, in a much better mood than the one she'd been in all day. It was good to be a Tamer. (3)

*** 

**AN: **Phew! Done. I didn't expect university to be so draining – or that it would take me so long to finish this. (grins sheepishly) Sorry. (especially to **Archangemon, Black and **Neverwhere**, who've been updating their stories while this just sat around on my HD) This chapter kinda ran away with me, though, especially on the part where Takato is thinking about his relationship with Guilmon. It isn't as nicely written as I want, and a monologue on Tamer-Digimon relationships certainly wasn't in the plan, but…eh.**

I hope to end this series soon, within two chapters. In the first place, aside from one last plot twist I don't have anything I really want to do with this…and secondly, I want to finish this so I can start work on another Digimon fic project, a less humor- and romance-based one. 

**Chapter Notes**

(1) Yes, this happened to me. (well the golf thing happened to my brother, but I was there to see it anyway…) I got really upset and began to sob hysterically about heathens and the lack of regard for the classics. 

(2) What? It does! I bonded with one of my current best friends cos we both really hated our high school. ^_^

(3) What's the use of having Digimon if you can't ask them to do a little terrorizing on your behalf? _I_ would do that! ;) 


	9. Aftershock

Just In . Directory . Columns . Dictionary . Search Log In . Register Menu- Ad Blocker- Help- TOS - Credits- Privacy Anime » Digimon » **This Kiss** text size: (+) : (-) Author: Cyberwolf 1. Best Friends?2. This Kiss3. Worth A Thousand Words4. School Visit5. When Hell Freezes Over6. Earning Detention7. Awkward Encounters8. Going Bye Bye9. replies to reviewers10. Aftershock11. Meanwhile, Back At The LairPG - English - Romance/Humor - Reviews: 159 - Published: 12-25-02 - Updated: 12-21-03 id:1142012 

            Mr. Kino Takamiya, homeroom advisor for Class 1-D at Shinjuku High, had never believed the stories, even if the tellers swore by the souls of their ancestors that the tales were true. What stories, you ask? Well, some of Mr. Takamiya's colleagues had previously worked in Shinjuku Primary and others came from Shinjuku Middle School, and all had fantastical, improbable tales of Takato Matsuda and his legendary lateness. 

            Some told of how, for entire months at a stretch, he would always arrive _exactly ten or five or twenty minutes after the bell, precise down to the second. Others, of the truly prodigious clouds of dust that attended his arrival, kicked up by his velocity. One had a story of how Takato had set out at five in the morning (she knew because she had called him on the cellphone to remind him to do so) and __still arrived late for class. They had many theories as to his lateness, ranging from hereditary disease, a curse with directions and/or time-management, to the one that was the strangest but, surprisingly, convinced most of them – that Takato was a Digimon Tamer and often had to engage in battles that kept him and took up his time. Of deliberate malice or laziness none accused him, because _that_ was less likely than any of the above._

            But, we are not concerned with what the other teachers believed. We are concerned with Mr. Takamiya, who did not believe. He was new to Shinjuku, and young, and had lived some of his childhood abroad in the United States. To him, Digimon were just an urban legend that citizens of Shinjuku were particularly ready to believe. Also, he had Takato in his class, and the boy was not a quarter as troublesome as the others said he was. He was not an academic genius, like his friend Jenrya, but he maintained a strong B-average, and was good at art. He was good-natured and easy-going, often serving as mediator for his classmates. And, he was never late. 

            Or at least, Mr. Takamiya amended mentally, he had never_ been late. Now, though…_

            The young teacher buried his face in his hands while his classroom began to buzz with anticipation. A few had stopwatches out. Their classroom faced the front gate of the school, and the entire class was crowded at the window-banks, watching avidly. The windows of the classrooms adjacent were also filled with curious students. 

            "Ten…nine…eight…" said the ones who had stopwatches. Soon the entire class had joined into the chanting. Mr. Takamiya, still at his desk, sighed. Who would have thought Miss Himiko wasn't kidding about the Takato Countdown?

            "…three…two…one!" And at that moment a furiously-pedaling Takato hove into view, his bike reaching speeds that would have given its manufacturers heart-attacks. He glanced at his watch (incidentally biking one-handed for that brief moment, something Mr. Takamiya would never consider doing at that speed) and, though they could not hear him, swore at his lateness. He reached the main gate, which had been locked already…but there was incidentally a large ramp near it, set up not by Takato himself but by classmates who were curious if he would be so foolish as to…no he wouldn't, would he…there he went!

            The bike soared over the gate, landing with a crash that popped a few bolts loose. And, incidentally, sent its rider hurtling over the handlebars, where he rolled to a stop on the ground, jumping up hardly the worse for wear. At first his spills had been much more, well, bloody, for lack of a better term. Happily, Takato through several painful lessons had learnt to take a fall. He hurriedly stood his much-abused vehicle against a tree before sprinting into Shinjuku High. 

            "Pay up!" several boys – and a few girls - cried to grumbling compatriots. 

*** 

            It was Ayami Todeno's sixteenth birthday, and her boyfriend, Ito Sanakawe, had gotten her a present. Last year, he'd forgotten, and the fiasco that followed did not bear remembering. In fact, he made it a policy never to think of it. 

            So, this year he had carefully marked the date off on his calendar, and bought the present a whole three days in advance. It even had a gift-wrapper of dark blue, which was her favorite color – at least it had been last week. Ayami tended to change her mind a lot. 

            They were to meet at a local sit-down restaurant for a special dinner. Ito arrived a little late, to be sure, but it wasn't _his _fault that Coach had kept the team behind for special practice…

            So he really could not understand why, instead of bubbling over with gratitude and sweetness as his efforts deserved, Ayami merely looked discontented, sighed a lot, and sometimes glared at him for no reason. 

            When the sixteen-year-old finally managed, in as subtle and unaccusing a manner as he could manage, to ask why, he learnt the reason. 

            "For crying out loud, Ayami, what's wrong with you now?!"

            She burst into tears. Not quietly, either – big noisy sobs that shook her entire frame and made it sound as if she had just learnt her entire family had been run over by a posse of drunk truckers. 

            "You're such a big brute!" she bawled. "Why can't you be more like Takato-kun? _He treats his girlfriend nicely!"_

            Ito shifted uneasily as the people nearby turned to stare at their table, drawn by the disturbance Ayami was causing. He felt even more uneasy when they began to glare at _him, _assuming he had just broken her heart in some manner. Thus, his reply to Ayami's somewhat unclear outburst was a little less than even-tempered. 

            "Who?!"

            "Takato-kun! You know, Makino's boyfriend," she repeated. When her boyfriend made no indication he recognized the name at all, she heaved an exasperated sigh. How couldn't he know Takato? _Everyone_ knew Takato. 

It might be worthwhile to explain that Ayami did not realize that when she said 'everyone' she meant 'everyone at school' and that expecting Ito to know St Hebreke's usual gossip was not reasonable. 

            "He waits for her every day after classes…"

            Shinjuku High ended an hour before St. Hebreke's did. Ito's school did not. Unfortunately for Ito, Ayami did not consider this. 

            "And he walks her home…and in the morning he walks her to school!"

            "But…"

            "And he gives her presents all the time…"

            Usually presents of an edible type, like the little tarts that were Ruki's favorite and which Takato made especially well nowadays. He made a fresh three dozen every morning and they sold rather well at the Matsuda bakery.

            "And he's _sweet, and __nice, and _thoughtful_…" _

            And on and on she went, while Ito groaned mentally and slumped down in his seat. He'd never met this Takashi guy, but he was beginning to develop a very intense dislike of the boy.

*** 

            "I…I just can't believe it."

            "I know, man, I know."

            "It's beyond comprehension! It's shocking, that's what it is."

            Two heads nodded solemnly in agreement. 

            "Downright eerie, I call it."

            "Yeah!"

            "Yeah, I mean, chumly and…_her?!"_

"I can't believe it."

            "Me neither. It's just too _weird._"

            "I really can't understand him sometimes!"

            "I know! I just can't…_believe_ him!"

            "Me too!"

            Somewhere close by, a gray-eyed Chinese boy pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead. "Can't you give it a rest?" he muttered to Kenta and Kazu. "I mean you've said it already. Yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before _that…"_

            Kenta and Kazu's litany of disbelief was chanted at least once a day now. Kazu was especially in shock, and had not been able to function normally in school since then. (Somewhat sadly, his teachers did not notice much of a difference). He was the one who had broken the news to the rest of the Tamers gang, although it had been a while before the others could understand what he was saying.

            Kazu had been late for a meeting at the park. He was running there when he saw Takato and Ruki ahead of him. The two Tamers were walking side-by-side, Takato wheeling his bike beside him. He was about to call to them when Takato had wrapped his arm around Ruki and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. And Ruki _didn't tear him limb from limb. _

            It was too much. Takato and Ruki jumped apart, less out of embarrassment than having to make way for Kazu, who tore past them to the park, screaming and pulling at his hair. "The world is ending!" and "Oh my god!" being among the screams.

            And so Takato and Ruki had to explain his sudden hysteria to the rest of the group, and great was the shock once they had done so. 

            Jenrya was brought out of his musings by Juri seating herself nearby. "Oh, don't be so harsh, Lee-kun," the girl said, smiling. "It's not so bad. They're getting better. Yesterday they only did it for about ten minutes." Both of them laughed a little.

            "Hey…Juri?"

            "Yes?"

            "Do you mind me asking…how you feel about…you know. Takato and Ruki."

            Juri looked a little puzzled. "What do you mean? I'm happy for them. They look good together. And we all know Takato's been head-over-heels for Ruki for, like, forever." Secretly, Juri thought Ruki had been head-over-heels for Takato for about the same amount of time, but since she didn't show it, the other boys didn't believe her. 

            "Oh. It's just that…I thought you and Takato were, you know…"

            "Oh!" Juri blushed a little. "No…no. We were never like that. We were friends ever since we were little. And we may have thought we had crushes on each other, but we were young. We just didn't know how to compare sibling-type love with the other type." She smiled. "I'm not eaten up with jealousy, if that's what you mean."

            "Okay."

            The sounds of Kenta and Kazu's litany broke into their conversation.

            "My god!"

            "I _know." _

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	10. Meanwhile, Back At The Lair

[**Scene**: a small room, cluttered and untidy. In front of a white, fairly old PC sits a large wolf, dark-brown in color. How the wolf manages to type is and shall forever remain a mystery]

**Cyberwolf**: Let's see…maybe I should check Tannim's page next…

[the door slams suddenly open, and Cyberwolf topples off the office-chair with a yelp. Two teenagers enter. It is **Ruki and ****Takato]**

**Ruki**: (growling) I have a bone to pick with you.

**Cyberwolf**: (laughing nervously) Why, dearest Ruki-chan! Whatever brings you to my humble abode? ^-^;;

**Takato**: (looking around) Humble is right. Cyber, don't you ever clean up?

**Cyberwolf**: It's not so much the cleaning as the finding places to put things. 

**Takato**: I see what you mean. I have the same problem with my sketchbooks sometimes…

**Ruki**: I am not here to talk about your housekeeping! 

**Takato and Cyber**: (tails between legs or the equivalent thereof) Sorry, Ruki.

**Cyber**: (whispering to Takato) Man, she's scary. And you _want to go out with her?_

**Takato**: (whispering back) It's part of her charm. Besides, _you're the one who wrote her like this. _

**Cyber**: (still whispering) It pleases the readers, but I'm finding it hazardous to my health.

**Ruki**: (yelling) Would you quit talking about me as if I wasn't here?!

**Cyber**: Gleep. (dives below table)

**Takato**: (nervously) Now, Ruki-chan…remember, high blood pressure…

**Ruki**: (takes several deep breaths) All right, I'm okay. I'm calm. I'm cool. I won't bash you for that.

**Cyber**: (sighs in relief and begins to climb out from under the table)

**Ruki**: No – I'm going to bash you for leaving me in limbo for months!

(somewhere off in the Real World, several reviewers nod in agreement. No names need be mentioned. *cough*Archangemon*cough*FusionBlaster*cough*among others*cough)

**Cyber**: (promptly dives back to her hiding place)

**Ruki**: You left us – me there, hanging in limbo! For months! Nothing to do but eat and be stuck in the Ucchan's…

**Ukyo**: (suddenly pops in) What's wrong with my place?

**Ruki**: Nothing in particular…it's just boring if we're there for _months and can't do anything _while_ we're there…_

**Ukyo**: Oh, that's okay then. (pops back out)

**Takato**: (waves) Bye Ukyo-san!

**Cyber**: I'm sorry, Ruki, really I am, but….

**Ruki**: You're going to be a lot more than sorry when I'm through with you!

**Cyber**: (howling) It's not my fault! Blame him!

**Ruki**: Who?

[With a puff of white smoke, a thin boy with untidy black hair and brilliant green eyes materializes in the room]

**Boy**: Voldemort! Portkeying me again!? (is suddenly holding a long stick) _Incendio!_

**Takato**: (ducks as a jet of red light flashes over his head)

**Boy**: What the…? You guys aren't Death Eaters, are you?

**Takato**: (smiling in a friendly manner, totally disregarding the earlier attack) Hello! My name's Takato Matsuda. What's yours? 

**Boy**: Oh…I'm Harry Potter. (shakes Takato's hand) Nice to meet you. Sorry about that, I thought you were an evil wizard. Why are we here?

**Ruki**: (ignoring the boy and turning again to Cyber) And what does he have to do with us?

**Cyber**: Well, I've been a little busy writing _his_ fanfic, so that's why…

**Takato**: (mumbling) You haven't been writing _that very quickly either. _

**Harry**: (who had been briefed by Takato about the whole situation) Hey, don't you blame this on me! (muttering) I get enough of that back home.

**Ranma**: (pops in) I hear ya, man. (pops out)

**All**: (blink-blink)

**Ruki**: (turning to Cyber) In any case, Cyber, I came here to…remind you that characters don't appreciate being left dangling. 

**Takato**: (leading Harry away) Hey, want to play a round of Digimon with me?

**Harry**: (curiously) What's that?

**Takato**: (enthusiastically) Oh, you just wait! It's the best game, really…see, you have a deck of cards…

[both boys ignore the cloud of dust rising behind them, and the whimpers of pain]

Later…

**Ruki**: (dusts off hands) Well, that's not going to happen again, is it?

**Cyber**: (hooked up to an IV drip) Noh m'm…

[translation: No ma'am]

**Ruki**: Takato! We're done here!

**Takato**: …and the Seeker looks for the Snitch. 

**Harry**: Yeah, you got it!

**Takato**: (wistfully) It sounds like fun…

**Harry**: Why don't you come over? I'll lend you my Firebolt, in return for teaching me that Digimon game…the Dursleys don't dare lock me in anymore… ^_^

**Takato**: It's a deal! ^_^

**Ruki**: (rolling her eyes) C'mon, gogglehead, four-eyes… -_-;;

[the three teenagers depart]

**Cyber**: Mwahahahaha (ouch) hahahaha (that stings!) hahahahahahaaaaa…wheeze. She thinks it's over but it's not….ow. She doesn't know there's still at least three chapters to this baby! The nightmare lives oooooooooon! Mwhaahahahahaa…gasp...Note to self, limit Evil-Overlord-Laughter when sustaining severe internal injuries.

*** 

PS: Is it just me or does the relationship between Takato and Ruki seem like the one between Luke and Mara in Star Wars?


	11. Turning Point

** Author's PS - actual fic below.**

This sucks. As in majorly. It is now January 2, and I am locked out of my ff.net account. 'This Kiss' has been deleted, and I haven't backed up several chapters. I've been out of town, and without access to Net facilities, and this is a hell of a thing to come back to. Deep breaths, deep breaths. 

Um, if anyone has my chapters on their HD or something, would you mind emailing it to me? Shot in the dark, I know, but... 

Also my laptop's been confiscated, along with all my fic projects there. Aside from my HP fic update and this, sigh. No more unless I retype it from memory. 

What a way to start the New Year. -_-;; 

Ruki: Wow, she looks so pathetic I haven't even the heart to taunt her. 

Takato: Aww. 

Anyhow, here's the next chapter of _This Kiss_. 

*** _Holding you and kissing you enough to bask in  
Fighting and loving each other to bask in  
I want to know you just as you are  
But I'm the one who can't just be myself  
I don't understand, I don't understand  
Your heart. Why is it?   
Are you really a sorcerer then?   
I want to hold you  
Alone I cry  
I don't ever want to be alone again  
I want to hold you  
With you I fly  
I melt into the emotional voice that almost seems to be crying  
Serenade   
_             -Serenade, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen OP 

***

            Ruki was scared. 

            Sound the trumpets, proclaim it to the world! Well, don't, actually, unless you fancy severe injury, courtesy of You-Know-Who. And we don't mean Voldemort. 

            And this time it wasn't the sudden, brief bursts of fear that Ruki had experienced (infrequently and rarely, mind you) on the battlefield, when confronted by a truly formidable opponent. She could banish those quickly enough, using her force of will to go beyond it, act like she didn't even feel it. And then she'd fight, and win, and then that would be over.

            But this was…_different. _Nothing concrete, nothing she could really _fight. _Just a quiet ache, a source of dark thoughts that would flit across her mind at random times. 

            Ruki had plenty of physical courage; no one could dispute that, especially not the numerous enemies she'd defeated in battle. But in the realm of emotional danger, she was more likely to turn and run. 

            Her budding relationship with Takato (it had been days before she could even think the word 'relationship' in connection to herself and Takato) scared her more than anything she could remember. Her experiences with them hadn't been exactly encouraging. Who could she look at? Her parents? Even if she could think of them without personal bitterness, their example wasn't the greatest. Her classmates? Either they simpered to what they called 'athletes' and what Ruki called 'huge brutish throwbacks to cavemen', or – on the opposite end of the scale – they were obnoxious witches (actually the word beginning with a 'b' was more appropriate) with cowed milksops as boyfriends. (1)

            What if they turned out like that?

            What if she became a stupid, simpering _wimp _who only lived for her boyfriend's approval? (2)

            What if she became a shrew? A shrill-voiced, irritating nag who harassed everyone? She could be spoiled by having such an attentive boyfriend. 

            … Did she just think of him as her boyfriend? This was the fifth time today! 

            What if _he became something else? What if __he changed? She couldn't really conceive it, but it could happen. What if he only liked her because she was hard (3) to get? _

            But those were far-off possibilities. Frightening, yes, but improbable enough that she could recognize it. What she really feared was something closer to her reality. 

            Their friendship had been a strong one – very strong. There had been times when it seemed like the only thing she had to look forward to. And they wanted more…she had to admit that now. But what if they were being greedy? What if they weren't meant to last? What if pushing it made them become awkward around each other? 

That was what was wonderful about Takato. She could be herself around him, neither more polite nor more aggressive than she really was. Everything came easily around him, words, actions, laughter. 

To lose that…to have to start to pretend, or keep from being true… She wanted more…but she didn't want to lose! 

            She didn't want to stop being friends. 

*** 

(1) I'm sure there are one or two stable, working relationships in St. Hebreke's. Maybe as many as three. 

(2) Of all the possibilities, I really think this is the most unlikely. 

(3) Try impossibly difficult.

*** 

            "Bye mum, dad!" yelled Takato, jumping down the last four steps of the staircase. "I'm going to the park!" 

            "Takato!" yelled back Mie, his mother. "Are you done…?"

            "I've done my homework, kneaded the dough for tomorrow's loaves, set the tartlets out…" Takato enumerated as he pulled on his sneakers. By now, he knew that if he wanted to see Ruki, he'd better have left no reason to stay behind. "Bye mum, bye dad!" he yelled again, running out the door.

            "My, our son has certainly become more efficient since he finally started dating Ruki-chan," smiled Takehiro, emerging with floury hands from the kitchen. As a matter of fact, Takato had not kneaded the bread-dough. But seeing his son's impatient fidgeting as he finished his other chores, Takehiro had volunteered to take over the task. Takato's thanks had been so profuse as to be amusing. He wondered what was waiting for Takato at the park. Aside from Ruki, of course.

            "Not just efficient," Mie said, watching Takato leave with a bittersweet smile on her lips. "Happier." 

***      

            Ruki sat up in her bedroll, running a hand through her loose red hair. Nightmares. She'd just had a dream about her and Takato, where the two of them had been fighting, fighting beyond the occasional spats and bickering they had. The sentiments had been bitter, the insults harsh words that couldn't be forgotten. She couldn't remember what they'd said, and that was probably for the better. In the end of the dream, they'd promised, threatened, vowed – what was the proper word? – never to meet again. She'd woken up with the image of Takato turning away from her burned into her mind. 

            She laid a hand on her chest. It hurt, in exactly the way it did when she choked down sobs. She hadn't had to do that for years now. She touched her face – it was dry, thankfully. She got up and began to get ready for the day ahead. Her movements were slow, automatic. 

            To be honest, there had never been anything in her and Takato's relationship to merit these fears. She was happy when they were together; she looked forward to seeing him. Happier, even, than she had been when they were just friends. She didn't know it, but everyone around her noticed how much her eyes lit up whenever she saw Takato. The 'what ifs' never reared their ugly heads when she was around him. 

            Was this the price? Everything was just more _intense _now. The happiness, _and_ the fear. Was it worth it? If they ever did break up, it would hurt her. How much, she didn't want to think. Could she take the chance…?

            "Ruki!" Her mother tapped on the screen-door. "Takato-kun's here!"

            Ruki snapped her head up. If she waited too long, her mother and grandmother would begin to interrogate him. She'd fought a long and hard battle to keep them from finding out – telling her friends was one thing (how she'd loved the blank and glazed shock on the Two Stooges' faces) but telling her family was completely another. 

She didn't need to tell them. They'd found out all by themselves. And the dinner when they'd revealed that knowledge…Ruki shuddered. 

She ran out of her room, pulling on her jacket. She skidded, still in her socks, around the corner, only to confront the sight she feared. Takato, comfortably seated in the living room and sipping tea, chatting easily with her family. Wide, satisfied smiles on Rumiko and Seiko's faces did nothing to assuage Ruki's fears.

One moment, Takato was sitting there and drinking tea. The next, a red-topped blur zipped by and dragged him off by his shirt-collar.

"We'regoingnow,goodbyemumgrandma!"

Still smiling politely, Takato waved good-bye despite his position as, essentially, a piece of luggage behind Ruki.

The door slammed shut.

Rumiko and her mother smiled at each other. 

All three of the women of the Makino family thought: '_Yes, he's worth it.'_

*** 

            Dai's Noodles, one of a chain of popular eateries, was a popular hangout and usually filled with students. Music would be playing, people would be greeting each other, boys would horseplay and girls would exchange gossip. Or, in the case of certain people, the other way around. But today, the atmosphere was edgy. The few customers who hadn't decided to leave ate in silence, darting quick, nervous glances at the table that was the cause of this change.

            The table was filled mostly with teenage boys, dressed in various school-uniforms. Nearly every high school in a ten-kilometer radius was represented. Though they sat at the same table, this was no brotherhood. This was not a friendship. The boys glared at each other with lowered eyes, muttering threats under their breath. But when the only girl at the table spoke, all the boys focused totally on her, ignoring the potential rivals at their sides. 

            Yana Lang wanted to slam the photo onto the table, but that would not have been elegant. Totally out of character. So instead she laid it down gently, with a motion of her hand like a butterfly settling onto a flower-petal. There was a lot of repressed rage in that motion. 

            The boys leaned forward to look at the photograph of a brown-haired boy with an easy grin and eyes of an unusual red shade. His name was Takato Matsuda. 

            For several minutes, Yana spoke of the _horrible way that Matsuda boy had treated her. And all she wanted to do was make friends. That was no call to be so rude. Or insulting. Or threatening. _

            At this point, Yana gave a little shudder, politely suppressed. Several boys snarled, not politely suppressed. 

            Yana had many talents, not least of which was her ability to gauge the mood of people, and knowing the moment when the proper word could tip them onto the path she wanted. 

            Thankfully, these boys had been chosen for their physical ability, not for their mental acuity. She didn't need to be subtle or anything with them. Actually, if she had been subtle, it might have gone completely over their heads, tall and handsome as those heads were. 

            "Whoever first beats up Takato Matsuda, I will date."

            And in the days to follow, the phrase "I would do anything to date Yana Lang," acquired a completely new meaning. 

*** 

**Author's Notes**

**December 31, 2003******

**Happy New Year minna-san! ;D**

Well, I guess this is the last fic-chapter I'm going to write for the year 2003. Kinda fitting that 'This Kiss' would be it. It was, by the way, the fic's first birthday last Christmas. ^_^  This chapter became a little heavy for humor in some places, especially Ruki's parts.  But I hoped some parts were still funny. And hopefully I won't need to go all melodramatic again. 

Takato: Psssst! Cyber!

[Takato pokes his head through the door of Cyberwolf's den, looking right and left before stepping inside]

Cyber: (turns) Oh, hey. What's up? Hey, I just got a copy of Final Fantasy 7 for my PC; I haven't been able to play it for, like, three years…

Takato: Forget your computer games….ooh, FF7, really? (shakes head) Later. No time for that. Ruki's on the warpath!

Cyber: What? Again? I'm still on medication for the last time! What did I do _now?_

Takato: Oh, I dunno. Maybe it was the fact that you called her a coward.

Cyber: Only when it came to emotional type things!

Takato: Or maybe it was when you leaked her thoughts and dreams – actually nightmares – (scowls for a second) to the world. 

Cyber: The public demands insight into their heroine's thought processes!  
Takato: …I didn't see that in any of the reviews. 

Cyber: Well, um, that's still no reason to maim me again!

Voice: Actually, that wasn't any of the reasons.

[Takato and Cyberwolf spin to see Ruki leaning against the doorway, idly tossing her D-Arc up and down]

Cyber: (squeaking) Ruki! Imagine seeing you here!

Takato: Hey, Ruki-chan. 

Ruki: It wasn't the calling me a coward, or spilling my guts online. No, the problem came when you let Yana set her bullies on my boyfriend!

Takato: (smiling goofily) She finally called me her boyfriend…(snaps out of it) Wait wait wait…you set goons on me?!

Cyber: It was a plot twist…and they're just high school students, don't you think goons is a little much, and (wailing) come on guys…

Ruki: Digimodify! Evolution Plug-In S! Renamon digivolve to Kyuubimon!

Takato: (smiles goofily again) She looks good when she slashes a card…

Ruki: (blushing but trying to ignore Takato) Kyuubimon, walk all over her. 

[A gigantic six-tailed fox, glowing blue from the remnants of the Digivolution energy, shimmers out of the shadows. Wolf sees fox. Wolf sees fox is larger and possessed of energy manipulation abilities. Wolf whimpers and tucks tail between legs]

Cyber: (backs away from the larger quadruped) I'm going to be in pain soon, aren't I?

Kyuubimon: Yes. 

TBC…


	12. Luck's A Fickle Lady

If someone had been watching Takato Matsuda go through his everyday life, while knowing the intentions of Yana Lang and her gang of bully-boys, they might have marvelled at how Takato escaped constantly escaped harm. They would have wondered how he could not notice something weird going on around him. They will have concluded that Takato possessed the luck of the devil. 

***

**Monday, ****8:23 AM******

            Takato was biking to school, having just left Ruki at St Hebreke's gates. As had become usual, he was facing another tardy slip, and was therefore pedalling furiously and reaching dangerous speeds.

            Unknown to him, a burly boy, a linebacker in the new American football league just starting in Tokyo and an ardent devotee of Yana Lang, crouched behind the bushes nearby. His plan was simple. Wait for the Matsuda kid, then tackle the Matsuda kid. And then beat up the Matsuda kid. 

            Simple and clean. Well, not very clean actually, but it was at least simple. And that was the important thing. 

            He peered out of the bushes, and saw a black-jacketed boy just turning the corner. That was it, his prey. He rose up to a ready position, tensing his muscles.

            Nearer…nearer…_nearer…___

_Now_!

            He launched himself. 

            Unfortunately Takato had glanced at his watch just a second before. This resulted in him seeing exactly how late he was. Which resulted in a sudden burst of acceleration. Which _then_ resulted in the linebacker just missing his mark and ending up with a faceful of concrete rather than a knocked-down opponent. 

            Takato glanced back at the bigger boy sprawled on the road. He would have turned back to help – such a Good Samaritan is our Gogglehead – except that the guy was clearly okay. He was even getting up and waving his limbs wildly to ensure they still worked.

            Others may have noticed the dance of incoherent, hopping-mad rage which had seized the linebacker, but Takato, innocent and sweet, did not.

*** 

**Monday, ****3:50 PM**

            Takato was riding to Ruki's school to meet her after class. This was a routine so regular that you could nearly set your clock by it. Which, of course, made it a perfect time for an ambush.

            So perfect, in fact, that several of Yana's would-be boyfriends had chosen it for their attempt to gain Yana's favor. Now, one would think that riding down a street filled with people ready to jump you and inflict intense hurting would naturally _result_ in being jumped and filled with intense hurting. After all, if one didn't get you, another would. 

            Except for the teensy tiny detail that only _one_ person was going to get to date Yana. Which meant that only one person could beat up Takato. 

            Takato stopped for a moment to stare curiously, as did several other passers-by, at the roiling cloud of dirt kicked up by the brawling of several teenagers. Angry yelling and cries of pain issued periodically from the dust-cloud, and fists, heads and various random body-parts would emerge from the obscuring dust and then be drawn back in.

            Takato shrugged and went on his way.

*** 

**Tuesday, ****7:00 AM******

            The bell over the door of the Matsuda bakery tinkled merrily. A teenage boy had just entered the bakery, dressed in the loose flowing trousers and top of a kendo practitioner. He gripped a bokken very tightly in his hands, pointing the wooden sword dramatically towards the counter. A few early-morning customers and Takehiro, who was manning the register, looked at him curiously.

            The boy took a deep breath, turned a little to the side so that the light would hit him just right, and began. "Matsuda Takato!" he announced forcefully. "I, Shutaro Mendo the Third, have come to challenge you for the hand of the fair…" he trailed off as a dark cloud of doom fell over the place. Takehiro turned on the electric lights in order to provide some illumination.

            Stomp.

            Stomp.

            Stomp.

            Shutaro Mendo the Third gave a nervous gulp and gripped his bokken tighter. Takehiro sighed with the air of someone who is patient and long-suffering and began to herd the customers to stand near the side-wall, which had been designated a safe-zone. Had Shutaro Mendo more brains and less blind adoration of Yana, he would have joined them.

            Safer from what, you ask?

            Why, safer from the wrath of an interrupted-whilst-baking Mie Matsuda. 

            "Who's making all that NOISE?!" she roared, her demon-sized head bursting into view from the kitchens. 

            Immediately several fingers were pointed at the now completely white bokken-wielder. 

            She turned flame-filled eyes, the mark of an advanced user of the Demon Head ™ technique, upon him. "Do you know how much _attention_ is needed to bake proper shortcake? Do you?" She then proceeded to rail about inconsideration, loudness, lack of moderation and how sick she was of all this. "How am I supposed to _work_ in these conditions?! Get out!" And before he knew it, Shutaro Mendo the Third, heir to a great fortune and highly trained kendoist, had been kicked out the door, from whence he proceeded to flee like a spooked rabbit.

            …no offense to Terriermon and Lopmon meant.

            "Thanks and come again!" Takehiro shouted after the fleeing boy. He turned his attention back to his customers, who had, surprisingly calmly, resumed their line. "Mie's in one of those moods again?" a long-time customer asked, with a sympathetic look on his old face.

            "Yeah," Takehiro sighed, tucking the man's pastries into a paper bag. "I've been thinking of switching her to decaf…"

            Upstairs, Takato slept on, dead to the world.

*** 

**Tuesday, ****11:54 AM******

            Takato's class was currently attending PE, meaning that their classroom was empty of people. This was the perfect oppurtunity for Hikaru Shinki, one of the more intelligent of Yana's flunkies (meaning his IQ was nearly in the three-digit range) to carry out his plan. Perhaps intelligent is not the word for it; perhaps 'conniving' or 'devious' would be better suited to describe him. Or the word '#&$@*^!!', but this is a PG fic. 

            Hikaru's plan involved three very simple things: a drug to cramp muscles (obtained from the same chemistry geek from whom he got his steroids), Takato's bento, and hauling the paralyzed boy away to beat him up. So, dressed in the too-small uniform of a Shinjuku High student currently stuffed into a dumpster, he sneaked into Takato's classroom and prowled around until he found the bento with Takato's name on it. Snickering to himself, he sprinkled the paralysis drug all over the food. 

            Just then he heard the clamor and racket of the returning class, and hurriedly dove into the broom closet. He was just in time as the first few students burst into the room, laughing and yelling. 

            "Hey," said one, noticing, "someone left the closet open!" He kicked it closed. There was a strange sound then, like someone muffling a scream of pain. But no one noticed. 

             When the classroom had fallen silent again, Hikaru crawled out cautiously, sucking on pained fingers. He headed to the school foreyard, where he could see a brown-haired boy eating lunch surrounded by a group of classmates. He squatted beside a trashcan to spy on them, ignoring the whispers and stares of other students at this strange boy in the ill-fitting uniform…

An evil smirk crawled onto his lips as he saw Takato pick up his chopsticks.

            Then a large red dinosaur – what the _hell?! – _suddenly appeared at Takato's side, poking his way out of the bushes. Takato rolled his eyes but patted the dinosaur's head fondly, and the way the other students just grinned and smiled suggested that this was a common occurrence. 

            "Hey Guilmon!"

            "Aww, he's so cute."

"Hiya Guilmon!"

            "Aw, boy, I thought I told you to stop visiting me at school? The teachers don't like it," Takato groaned, but he was smiling as he said it. And the other students protested, because Guilmon had become something of a school mascot. 

            "Don't say that, Takato-kun!"

            "Yeah, let him keep coming. He's great fun."

            "Don't be mean!"

            "Who listens to the teachers anyway?"  
            Guilmon thumped his tail like a delighted puppy, knowing that Takato wouldn't send him away really. "Takatomon, I'm hungry!" 

            The students laughed at the familiar refrain. 

            "Here, boy," Takato said, offering his Digimon the bento. "You can have it."

            "Aren't you hungry, Takato?" asked one of his friends. 

            "Not really," answered the Tamer, shrugging. "I had a big breakfast. Besides, I lost my appetite after Coach Isuzu's _lovely_ display of how to sumo-wrestle. Which he did, I'll remind you, in true sumo-wrestler fashion by stripping down to…"

            "Shut up!" several people yelled at him. 

            "Thank you, Matsuda-kun, for bringing that lovely imageup in the middle of lunch…"

            "I was trying to _forget_ that!"

            "Ugh, now I've lost _my_ appetite."

            Takato, laughing softly, had meanwhile fed his bento to his eager Digimon, to the horror of nearby Hikaru. Guilmon gulped down the contents in one go, licking his muzzle for the stray crumbs. A strange expression crossed his face a few seconds later. He hiccuped once, twice, and then more and more rapidly. Little puffs of flame came out whenever he did, too small to hurt anything but enough to send the watching students into paroxysms of laughter. 

            "Noooo!" Hikaru wailed, attracting even more attention than before. He began to stand, deciding to abandon the drug-target-first plan, and just go over and begin the hurting. He did not, for some reason, (maybe the fact that he did not understand what a Tamer was, and also that Yana had never mentioned that anyway) consider what the presence of a fire-breathing dragon beside his target would do to his chances. 

            In any case, it was a moot point, because at that moment a huge side of ham impacted against the back of his neck. It took Hikaru a few seconds to realize it was not a piece of meat, but rather a large and weighty hand, with fingers as thick as cigars. 

            "Hello, _gaki_." Hikaru, a boy with the stocky, powerful build of an ape and only marginally less facial hair, was not often called 'brat', but the man who hoisted him from the back of his stolen uniform jacket was massive enough to justify his calling _anyone_ 'gaki'. 

            Dark eyes set into a craggy face peered into Hikaru's. "Now, would you mind telling me why a kid I've never seen before should be crouching beside the garbage in a school he doesn't go to? Especially when he's wearing Saegara's uniform, while most definitely not _being_ Saegara?" Too late, Hikaru's eyes darted to the name embroidered on the jacket's left breast. 

            "I…I…I…"

            "Saa, saa," said the massively-built bruiser, also known as the PE teacher of Shinjuku High, in a voice that was like the grating of rocks and which was, Hikaru realized with fright, the man-mountain's attempt at gentle. "While you're being so eloquent, why don't you tell your story in the principal's office? I'm sure we'd all love to hear it. Why, we can even call up whoever the hell _your_ principal is, and invite him to share in the fun."

            "I…I…I…"

            "That's the spirit, boy. Let's go," and he walked off, dragging Hikaru behind him. By this time everyone in the foreyard was watching with interest. Hikaru was trying to run away, of course, but all his churning legs did was kick up the dust into a whirling dustcloud. He might have been trying to run away from a tractor he'd been hitched to, for all the progress he made. Isuzu steamed on, as relentless as a train. 

            Takato watched with mild curiosity, idly patting Guilmon's head as his classmates speculated on the boy's possible motives. 

*** 

            But these theoretical observers might also remember something: sooner or later, good luck will end. Which it did for Takato _and_ for numerous other people.

*** 

**Tuesday, ****3:48 PM**

            Yashida Imato, whose athletic skill was decidedly second to his experience at bullying, loved only two things in his life. One was Yana Lang (if the word love could be applied). The other was his dog, who he had fondly christened Killer, mangling the English name everytime he said it. So he thought it fitting that he would involve the one in obtaining the other. 

            The two waited in ambush by the edge of the park. When Yashida saw Takato approaching, he unclipped Killer from the leash, and stepped back as Killer took off, anticipating the carnage. 

Killer rushed at Takato, fangs bared in a snarl, and succeeded in knocking Takato to the ground. The dog stood over his fallen prey, drool dripping from his jaws onto the struggling boy. Takato, in his thrashing to get free, turned his head to the side, and saw Yashida watching and grinning, clearly the owner of the dog by the unclipped leash hanging from his hand. 

            "Hey!" Takato yelled, holding up his forearms to protect his face. "Call – aargh! – call your dog off!" Killer had bitten him on the arm. Takato grit his teeth with the pain, grimacing further as one of the dog's scrabbling paws managed to scratch gashes into Takato's cheek.

            Yashida only grinned more widely, and called encouragement to his dog. "Thatsa boy, Killer, good doggy, yes." Takato gaped at him for a moment before he had to return his attention to fending the dog off. 

            "Yes, good Killer, we'll hurt this brat just like she said to us…what?!"

            For a red blur had just rocketed out of nowhere, knocking Killer back with such force that the mixed-breed was hurled a good five feet away from Takato. The dog landed on his side, whimpering as he skidded on the grass. 

            Takato sat up, teeth still gritted and his left hand clasped over the bleeding wounds on his right forearm. 

            "T…Takato?" 

            He looked up to see Guilmon, who had returned to his usual shed in the park after lunch, watching him with worried golden eyes. 

            "H…hey boy," Takato said in a shaking voice, attempting to smile at his Digimon. He had to break off in a hiss of pain. Guilmon came nearer, snuffling at his partner. His muzzle touched Takato's cheek gently, nudging at the claw-marks on his cheek. 

            He turned slowly away from Takato, a smear of blood merely a smudge of brighter red against his own coloring. Black pupils narrowed into slits as a low, thunderous growl began from somewhere deep in his chest. He stalked towards Yashida, snarling violently and snapping his jaws as the boy began to back away fearfully.

            With a howl, Killer smashed into Guilmon, a reversal of Guilmon's earlier rush, only that Guilmon hardly budged before turning on the animal with viral rage. Yashida, in terrified awe, had fallen as he stumbled blindly away, and could not seem to get up as he gaped at the two fighting animals. Takato staggered to his feet and threw himself into the fray, hooking his arms around Guilmon's and pulling him away. 

            "Guilmon, Guilmon, calm down!" he shouted, pain coloring his tone as the action pulled at his wound. Guilmon stopped at the sound of his Tamer's voice, eyes reverting though he continued to growl. Takato sighed with relief and slumped, hunching over his arm. 

            Yashida, still sitting on the ground, was staring at where his dog lay unconscious on the ground. Guilmon's fangs and claws had opened deep gashes in the dog's side, and the fur on his flank had been singed off by an uncontrolled burst of flame-breath – not a proper Pyrosphere, for which Takato was thankful. 

            "Look here," he began, turning to the other boy. "I don't know what this is all about, but…"

            Yashida leapt at him, screaming in anger. Takato yelled and rolled out of the way, moving with the reflexes that years of dealing with Wild Ones had instilled. Yashida came at him again, and this time he did not dodge but, thoroughly infuriated now, met the other boy with a snarl very like his Digimon's. 

            They rolled around in the dirt, exchanging short, brutal blows. The fight between Guilmon and Killer was scarcely more savage than their own. Takato seemed hardly to notice his previous injuries as he fought, blind, almost berserk rage acting as a better painkiller than any drug. 

            Guilmon circled the two brawlers, growling but not daring to charge in with his Tamer there. His tail lashed madly, and he snarled angrily everytime Yashida managed to land a blow on Takato. However, this was not often because Yashida was not actually a very good fighter, relying too much on his reputation and his dog's fangs for intimidation. Takato, on the other hand, was discovering he was unexpectedly competent at it. He had to deal with Guilmon, Ruki, Renamon and Wild Ones on a regular basis, after all. In the manner of teenage boys, too, Jenrya and he often tussled playfully. He never won, Jenrya being a trained martial artist, but he'd gotten used enough to Jenrya's patterns of movement that he could sometimes land his own blows in. 

            Apparently, that translated well into street-fighting and schoolboy brawling. Takato was a little surprised on how pleased that made him. Not very, though, because he had to focus most of his attention on the scuffle he was currently in. 

            Finally Takato managed to pin Yashida. He knelt on the boy's arms, too far forward for Yashida to kick him, and grabbed the front of his shirt, hauling him up. For several moments they just glared angrily at each other's eyes, breathing deeply. 

Yashida's face was a sight, with a bleeding nose and the beginnings of a black eye, and Takato knew he wasn't much better. He could feel the sticky warmth of blood on his face and trickling down his arm. His adrenaline was still coursing, damping the pain, but Takato knew he would be very sore come the morning. Right now, however, he was too action-high and angry to care much. He stared at Yashida, wondering if it was worth it to give this nut another punch to the face, before forcing himself to let the rage go. 

He took one last deep breath before asking, in a voice that shook with the effort of control, "What the hell is your problem, you bastard? Why are you attacking me?"

"Your freak thing there killed my dog!" Yashida spat in a voice charged with hatred. 

Takato was torn between more rage and sheer disbelief that Yashida could be foisting the blame on him. "You set him on me! For no apparent reason, I've never even seen you before!" He glared. "Of course Guilmon would try to defend me. And your damn mutt's not dead, anyway."

He glanced to the side, to make sure that Guilmon had not changed that while they'd been fighting. While he looked away, Yashida's hand closed around a stone on the ground. As Takato looked back, ready to restart his questioning until he got an answer, Yashida wrenched his arm out from under Takato's knee, raised his stone-clenched fist, and dealt Takato a stunning blow to the side of his head.

Takato dropped. Guilmon roared.

***

**AN**

Well, the first fight scene in _This Kiss._Would you believe it wasn't meant to get this serious? Not yet anyway. But somehow, I kept on writing and it kept on getting more violent. Finally I looked up, noticed Takato was in a brawl, and looked for a way to end it. Takato getting knocked out was supposed to happen later, by another guy (this one with a baseball bat) but Yashida's meaner than I thought. 

Again it's taken mucho time to update. Sorry to anyone who's been following this series, if there's anyone left. Also lately I've been dissatisfied with my writing style, and I've been trying to overhaul it somewhat. Am hoping to wrap this series up soon so that I can try writing another Digimon fic, kinda different from this one. With a way different writing style. Also have a bunch of ideas I'd like to air. 

Well, ja ne. I'm off to try out my new iPod, the best birthday gift I've received in a while. Of course, being a PC junkie, I had to first hunt around for the 'optional' connection cables before it _could_ work…(sigh) G'bye.

**Next chapter**: Ruki finds out that Takato's been beaten up. Then the gang finds out _why. _Includes **Raging!Guilmon, Raging!Ruki**, and…well basically it includes a lot of angry people. Due **May 5 2004**. If I miss this deadline, please rest assured I will bash my head against a wall repeatedly. Maybe setting deadlines will motivate me to work…


	13. Wild Justice

Revenge is a kind of wild justice.

            -Sir Francis Bacon, _Of Revenge_

***

            He wasn't there.

            It was…strange. And disquieting. 

            Ruki hadn't seen Takato waiting at the gate, as had become customary ever since they had gotten together. At first, she had complained about this…habit of his, of course: it was too much trouble, her classmates would bug him, and so on and so forth. He'd just looked at her, with that unfairly adorable expression of puppy-dog devotion on his face, and asked if _she _didn't want him to come. 

How could she say no? 

And so, to him, the matter was settled, and it had become part of his daily routine, as accepted and unchangeable as brushing teeth, wearing clothes, and eating at mealtimes. But she never thought how much it had become part of _her _life – when she'd come out and not seen him, it was almost physical, the jolt. For a minute she just stood there and looked around, searching for him.

She wasn't the only one who noticed his absence. Getting a boyfriend, although humanizing her to most of her other schoolmates, only seemed to set Yana and her clique even more against her. She knew _why_, certainly, but the hissed commentary about Takato's probable reasons for dating her, and/or that he was sure to dump her soon, was getting a bit irritating. 

As it was now. 

"Ooh, trouble in paradise?" Yana sneered as she sauntered past, surrounded as always by her coterie of followers. "Or maybe he's found someone better? Like, say, I don't know – _anyone else?" _The other girls giggled appreciatively, and a few of the bolder ones essayed their own remarks.

Ruki would have replied with either words or actions to that, except that Yana and her petty group seemed a very minor, very insignificant thing at the moment. There was a cold, empty feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she felt oddly fidgety, shifting her weight from one foot to another as she scanned the crowd around the school-gates. 

'_Where is he?'_ she thought, looking for him more frantically though she didn't know why. _'Why isn't he here?' _The coldness in her stomach was spreading, flowing sluggishly into her veins and making her spine tingle. 

Then the roar came like a roll of storm-thunder, deepening and growing with every passing second. As it reached its apex, part scream and part snarl by now, Growlmon's head suddenly reared into view, mouth open as he howled his rage to the sky. Everyone around her had frozen when they'd heard the roar, heads snapping to gape at the source of it. 

She felt the coldness crystallize into a single spike of ice that jammed all the way up to her throat. The ice blocked her windpipe, making it hard to get a complete breath, and she was gasping and swallowing hard, like someone who had been kicked in the stomach. She was running, her D-Arc grasped in her white-knuckled hand, though she could not remember when she'd begun either action. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Renamon flash into vision.

"**Card Slash!**** Evolution Plug-in S!"**  She swung onto Kyuubimon's back almost before the glow of evolution had faded away, her next card already in hand.

"**Card Slash: Hyper Wings**!"

Kyuubimon winged her way to the park, where Growlmon's figure still loomed large over the treeline. His head was bent now, as he glared at something on the ground. Kyuubimon flew so that they could look at the other Digimon eye-to-eye, hovering almost right in his face. 

_'Where's Takato? Why isn't he here?' _ Ruki thought again. Growlmon's eyes were completely viral, and Takato was the only one who could get to him with any certainty when his partner was like that. Nevertheless, Ruki tried. 

"Growlmon!" she yelled. "What's wrong with you?" 

To her surprise, Growlmon shifted his gaze slightly to look at her and Kyuubimon. There was still some intelligence in his eyes, though they remained viral. "Ruki. Kyuubimon," he growled.

Ruki heaved a sigh of relief. At least he recognized them. She hadn't been sure he would, so lost in his viral rage. "Growlmon, what are you doing? Where's Takato?"

At the sound of Takato's name, Growlmon's glare snapped downwards again. 

"Takato…Takato…he hurt him! _He hurt Takato_!" 

"What?!" For the first time, Ruki looked down. A boy with long blond hair, something bleeding and burned in his arms, was running away from them. But Takato…Takato lay unmoving on the ground. 

"**Exhaust**…" Though Ruki wasn't paying attention, too busy staring downwards, Kyuubimon noticed Growlmon's gathering of power. Desperately, she hurled herself at Growlmon's muzzle, backing herself with a flare of her own attack. "**Foxtail Inferno!"**

"…**Flame**!" The fireburst from Growlmon was misdirected by Kyuubimon's charge, so that it missed the fleeing boy. Instead it hit the ground, so hot that it drew on the soil and rocks themselves for fuel, forming a wall of flame that blocked his escape. The boy had been knocked to the ground by the force of the impact, and sat there, arms still around his dog, looking hopelessly at the fire.

Growlmon gathered himself for another attack. Kyuubimon was out of position to displace the attack as before, and in slow horror a thought penetrated the red haze in Ruki's mind. 

_'When Growlmon gets him...once the Digimon have killed a human…'_

Suddenly a green blur snatched the boy away from the scene. Numbly, Ruki watched it go. "Rapidmon…" she said, and saw Jenrya running towards them. Growlmon snarled in displeasure, but found his way blocked by Kyuubimon, who'd alighted on the ground. 

"**Card Slash: WarGreymon's Shield!**" For a moment, Ruki thought that Growlmon, maddened by the loss of his prey, would actually charge them, but instead the huge red Digimon backed off, shaking his head. The viral eyes reverted. 

Ruki got off Kyuubimon's back, running to where Takato lay sprawled on the ground. She was overcome by a relief so strong that it took her aback when she saw his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. He looked horrible, though: dirt and blood all over him, his clothes all askew where they weren't plain torn. A pair of parallel scratches was bleeding on his cheek. She knelt next to him, taking off her jacket to bind around the nastiest wound on the side of his head, a remnant of a first-aid class managing to make its way to her mind. 

Jenrya was there, all of a sudden, gaping down at the body of his friend. He was making confused, somewhat scared sounds, but Ruki wasn't sparing the attention to resolve them into words. Rapidmon suddenly blurred behind him, still holding the blond boy. Growlmon's words repeated in her head.

"Takato…Takato…he hurt him! _He hurt Takato_!"  

She stared at him with raw anger, fierce-eyed, so that he gulped and tried to wriggle free. Jenrya spun around when he saw Ruki's face, and suddenly all the pieces fell together for him. 

"Rapidmon!" he commanded, voice cold. "Don't let him go." 

"Right, Jenrya," Rapidmon said, tightening his grip on the increasingly frightened boy. Not enough to hurt, Ruki noted with mild regret. Oh well. 

"Bring him to…that place we were when we saw you guys again," Ruki told Rapidmon, obliquely referring to Guilmon's shed in the park. So far as she knew, it was still a somewhat secret part of the park; at least, they never saw anyone else there. Jenrya glanced at her curiously – he knew what she meant, but why not just say it out loud. In response, Ruki jerked her head in the direction of a lamp-post some distance away. Jenrya looked – and saw the video camera mounted on it, its lens focused on them. 

_'One of those cameras the police force installed to lessen crime,' _he thought, his formidable mind crunching data. _'And Hypnos could probably access its video, especially since Digimon involvement is so evident…we're going to get the story out of this kid first. Before the adults do.'_

The last time he'd left it to the adults – he'd lost his best friend. 

"Right. Rapidmon, see you there." The green cyborg was gone in a few seconds. Jenrya took out his cell phone, punching in the emergency numbers for medical help. Kyuubimon had dropped the Shield and padded over to her Tamer, wrapping both Ruki and the unconscious Takato in the fluffy warmth of her tails. Behind them Growlmon, who had evolved without the aid of his Tamer, was glowing as he reverted back to his Rookie self. 

"Should we bring him?" Jenrya said, looking over at Guilmon. 

"We'd better," Ruki said, finishing her makeshift bandaging of Takato's head. When she drew her hands away, they were tacky with his blood. Silently, Jenrya offered her his handkerchief. 

They looked up as the wailing of sirens came closer.

*** 

            Mie Matsuda's worst nightmares had involved exactly this: receiving the news that her son, her baby boy, had been heavily injured. The frantic rush to the hospital had been consumed with horrible thoughts. What had happened? Takehiro, just as worried, had refused to let her drive. 

            Mie ran to the nearest lab-coat wearer she saw. "My son…Takato Matsuda, where is he?" She felt someone lay a hand on her shoulder, and spun to see two sober-faced teens. 

            "Mrs. Matsuda? I'm…"

            "Jenrya-kun! Ruki-chan!" Mie said in relief. Somehow she felt better when she knew the three of them were together. Even when everything with the D-Reaper, and when Takato was gone in the Digital World, and her fears of this happening had been at their highest, she'd been able to draw reassurance from knowing that at least Takato wasn't alone – that he had capable, powerful friends with him. 

            It was a little ironic that it was now, when she hadn't been expecting anything to happen, that her son had to be brought to the hospital. 

            "Where is he?"

            Jenrya and Ruki led them quickly through the maze of hospital corridors, explaining the situation in short tense sentences. They'd arrived shortly after Takato had been injured, so they hadn't seen how exactly he'd been injured. He was bruised and bleeding and concussed, but not in any mortal danger. He was still unconscious. The doctors were patching him up now. He was on the fifth floor. He was being tended by Dr. Ochonimazu. They'd been the ones to call the ambulance. He had been in the park. They'd called his other friends.

            Mie took in each new piece of information with a jerky nod, walking so fast she was practically running. And then they were there, at his room, and she and Takehiro were running inside…

            He looked so pale, against the hospital sheets. And his hair was _never_ that tidy. There was a gauze pad on his cheek, and his arm was bandaged. So was his head. He seemed to be sleeping, although with a pained expression on his face. The doctor turned and greeted them, but Mie let Takehiro handle him while she touched her little boy's face, tracing wondering, shaking fingers over his features.

            Then she heard the word "…coma…" and spun around to look at the doctor. And as she spun, she noticed something else: Jenrya and Ruki were no longer there. 

*** 

            It was ridiculously easy to get the boy – Yashida Imato, they'd learnt his name was – to spill. As soon as he'd seen them, he'd babbled everything, so eagerly and so desperately that Jenrya looked askance at Rapidmon. 

            "No, Jen-kun, I didn't do anything to him," huffed the green cyborg, arms crossed. "Nothing!" But Jenrya noticed that Rapidmon's arm-mounted cannons were always fixed on Yashida, no matter where the Digimon went. And, perhaps more to the point, Guilmon prowled around the vicinity of the boy – though never coming near, as per Ruki's instructions before they'd left – his eyes viral and softly growling. 

            Ruki ignored the exchange between the two, somehow managing to look down at the boy though he stood several inches taller. Kyuubimon, still in her Champion form, stood like a statue behind her Tamer, the pale flames on her tails blazing against the shadows. 

            "So you set on him because someone told you to_,"_ Ruki said, disgust dripping off her voice and stance. The look she directed at him was the one most people reserved for particularly large cockroaches. Just before they step on them. "Why? And who?"

            "Because she promised…she promised…" Yashida gulped, and hesitated. It wasn't loyalty that paused him – any semblance of _that_ had been frightened out of him long ago – but more embarrassment. It did sound so paltry now…Then Guilmon growled a little louder, and he told all.

            "She promised to be my girlfriend if I did!" Well, she hadn't exactly, but that sounded better than a solitary date. 

            "She?" said both Jenrya and Ruki together, one with confusion, the other with growing suspicion. 

            "I want names, Imato," Ruki said threateningly. A threat that Yashida heeded. 

            "Yana! Yana Lang!" 

            "But why…?" began Jenrya, trailing off as his fellow Tamer jumped up and began to stalk off. He hurriedly got to his own feet and followed her. "Hey, Ruki?" He put a hand to her elbow, only meaning for her to slow down, but was surprised by the force with which she jerked away. 

            "I should have _known_!" she snarled, the rage in her voice making Jenrya step back. "That stupid interfering…" She let loose a stream of curses – the venom behind them impressed Jenrya more than the fluency, though that was formidable too. "She never could stand being less than pandered to or adored." 

            "You know her?"

            "…she's my classmate." Ruki's face was livid. "God, when I get through with her…"

            "Wait, Ruki!" Jenrya pleaded. "Will you explain? Why would this Yana set people on Takato?" His cell phone rang then, causing an abrupt silence as they both glanced, startled, at it.

He answered it quickly, grabbing Ruki by the elbow again to make sure she wouldn't stomp off to deliver the wrath of God unto this Lang person – or at least the wrath of a very pissed-off Digimon Queen. 

            "Hello? Dad? Yes? I'm in the park…with Ruki….I _know_, we were there…we had to…um, well, you see…Yamaki? He's there? Okay…okay. Yeah. I get it. We're on our way. No, we don't need a ride. We'll be there in a few minutes. Yeah. Good-bye." He folded up his cell phone and looked at Ruki. "Yamaki wants to talk to us. Three guesses as to about what." 

            Ruki was silent for a moment before she answered. "Sure. Okay." Ruki got onto Kyuubimon's back again, swinging on with practiced ease. "Guilmon," she said, looking at her boyfriend's partner. "Here, you can ride with us." The red dragon obediently walked over to Kyuubimon, scrambling on as the fox-digimon knelt down to make allowance for him.  

            "And where do you think _you're _going?" Jenrya demanded in a voice much angrier than usual, looking at Yashida. The blond-haired boy had been attempting to leave, as surreptitiously as he knew how. "You're coming with us."

            "But…but…" Yashida protested. "I told you everything already! And my dog!" 

            "We'll drop that mutt off at your house," Jenrya said coldly. "We need your address anyway. And we need _you_ to come and tell some people what you just told us…"

*** 

**AN**

Good news: deadlines _do_ help. At least they did this time. Bad news: they help by making me feel all happy till the last day, but then I rush it. And yesterday was mom's birthday, so I had to stay out late for her party instead of working on this like I'd planned. Yes, it does sound really bad that I'd prefer to write fanfics than to go to my own mother's birthday celebration, but…well, it's complicated. Anyhow, though, I managed to complete it by the deadline. With one hour and ten minutes to spare! (Chapter finished 10:50 PM, May 5)

While I was looking for quote-material to start this chapter, I came across several that went like this, basically: 'Women _really_ enjoy vengeance.' Is this sexism? I dunno. But based on my experience, with myself and my mom and my classmates – it's true. Oh so very true. Ruki?

Ruki: (crushes a rock into powder in one hand)

I think she agrees. 

How did this chapter get so serious? This is supposed to be a comedy/romance, but maybe I should change the genre. I know I'm not good at writing funny scenes but this is ridiculous. 

Been getting into Naruto fanfics lately. I love Naruto, he is _such_ an underdog. You gotta love him. I mention this because I wonder if a one-shot Tamers/Naruto crossover is doable. Kyuubi…Kyuubimon… (ponders) 

**Next chapter: **Yamaki interrogates and flicks his lighter, Ruki and Jenrya confer, and Rumiko – yes, _Rumiko_ – steps in. Due, hopefully, **May 9, 2004**. I'm more worried about this deadline than the other, though, because this is going to be harder to write than this one. Please, o Muses of Writing and Ideas, give me inspiration! 

Wolfie: …I'll think about. 

Tay: (yawns) 


	14. Hell Hath No Fury

_Where is the man that has the power and skill__  
__ To stem the torrent of a woman's will?_  
_ For if she will, she will, you may depend on it_  
_ And if she won't, she won't; so there's an end to it_  
-Unknown

* * *

  
  
Traveling through Tokyo at dangerously high speeds, dangling from the jaws of a huge nine-tailed fox, is not an enjoyable experience. At least it wasn't for Yashida Imato, who was kept from screaming in fear only because he had a wad of cloth stuffed in his mouth.

Suddenly, Ruki seemed to remember something, snapping her fingers in a '_oh-yeah-that's-right!_' kind of way. She leaned forward, asking Kyuubimon to stop. Curious, Jenrya and Rapidmon slowed as well, watching curiously as Ruki alighted, and began to walk towards Yashida, still held aloft in Kyuubimon's jaws. Guilmon, perched on top of Kyuubimon, growled a little as he saw Ruki go near Yashida; he quieted down at her quelling look. At Ruki's nod, Kyuubimon released her captive, letting him fall unceremoniously to the ground. Yashida, despite his cloth gag, managed to sigh in relief at being back on something solid again.

This relief was short-lived, as Ruki clipped him mightily on the side of his head, causing him a faceful of dirt and much pain. He struggled upright again, yelling something angrily through his gag. Ruki looked at him disappointedly, saying, "Guess I didn't do it right."

She sighed. "Oh well." She took out her deck and rifled through it for a few seconds, withdrawing a card with the air of someone who is pleased at her own competence. She stepped well back from Kyuubimon and Yashida, motioning at Jenrya to do the same. Yashida watched them go with a fearful expression on his face.

"**Card Slash: Flowermon's Sleep Powder!"**

Kyuubimon obediently breathed a cloud of yellow powder towards Yashida, whose eyes bulged in panic as he began to scramble to his feet. This was a mistake, because when his eyes _did _close in forced slumber, that meant his fall to the ground was from his full height rather than from a nicer, less painful seated position.

Kyuubimon picked him up in her jaws again, and Ruki climbed back onto her back – but not before she dealt a couple of blows to both sides of the unconscious Yashida's head.

"I'm not really all that surprised," Jenrya called to her as the Digimon resumed their journey, "But why now?"

"Oh…I was just thinking that Yamaki probably wouldn't like it if this bastard knew where Hypnos really was. So he should be knocked out until we get there, right?"

"And the blows after he was asleep?"

"To make sure he stays that way."

"Ah," Jenrya said carefully. After a moment of silence: "You do know we could have just blindfolded him? So that the drugging and the blows to the head weren't really necessary?"

"Oh really?" Ruki's tone held the blandness of someone who isn't really listening, but nods just to be polite. Jenrya mentally shrugged and gave up. '_It isn't like he didn't deserve it…'_

They took the over-large cargo elevator, specially built and secured only for the Tamers, to the top floor, where their parents, Yamaki, Riley (who was Yamaki's second-in-command) and the other Tamers were gathered. A babble of voices greeted the _ding_ of the arriving elevator.

"Guys, hey guys, what happened to chumly…?"

"Guilmon! Are you okay?"

"Ruki-chan…!"

"Jenrya! What happened?"

"What the heck was that?"

"Oniisan!"

And the quickening of click-clicks from Yamaki's lighter.

Then they moved more fully into view, and there was a sudden silence as they saw the look on Jenrya and Ruki's faces – and the strange cargo dangling lifelessly from Kyuubimon's jaws.

"…Ruki? Why is Kyuubimon carrying a boy in her mouth?" Ryo Akiyama, eyebrows raised, asked. Jenrya and Ruki glanced at him, in a bit of startlement – they hadn't seen the older Tamer in months.

Fearfully, Juri asked, "He isn't…_dead_, is he?"

"Of course not!" Ruki, already in a formidably bad mood, snapped. "Why would I have Kyuubimon carry something so gross in her mouth?"

Kazu muttered something to the effect that he wouldn't put anything past _her_, but luckily Ruki didn't hear him. This may have had something to do with the loud thud Yashida made as he was abruptly dropped on top of the conference table.

"See? He's alive!" Ruki proclaimed indignantly.

"Yes. I'm sure we're all very happy that it is so," Yamaki said, not looking very happy at all. "Be that as it may, why bring him here?"

Ruki and Jenrya stared at him. "Didn't you see the video?"

"…what video?"

* * *

Five minutes later, Riley was busy arranging for the police to give them the video feed, while Yamaki sat in his chair and assumed an attitude that, in any lesser man, would be called sulking. Jenrya and Ruki hadn't been able to keep themselves from some comments on how they'd overestimated Hypnos's omnipotence.

Kyuubimon and Rapidmon had devolved back to their Rookie selves, and now stood beside – or on – their Tamers. Guilmon prowled restlessly around the table – or more accurately, around the prone body of his Tamer's attacker – uncharacteristically ignoring the others when they called out to him.

Jenrya and Ruki ignored the others' questions by asking some of their own. It turned out that they had heard Growlmon's roar for themselves, and those of them who were Tamers had seen a Hazard sign flash on their D-Arcs. Remembering the _last_ time _that_ had happened, they had taken themselves with all haste to Hypnos. When they arrived, Yamaki had been calling the parents of those who had been at the scene.

"But…where's Takato?" Kazu asked, again. "Why's Guilmon here if chumly's not?"

"Matsuda-kun's been taken to the hospital," Yamaki reported, looking up. "I believe you two called the ambulance?" he said, looking at Jenrya and Ruki. Over the others' gasps and exclamations, he said, "We've called. Matsuda-san is on his way here – Takato's mother refused to leave his bedside."

"He's still unconscious, then?" a concerned Ruki asked, but Yamaki had no answer.

"What happened?" Ryo asked. "Was it a rogue Digimon? I thought Guilmon and Takato could handle most of them, and the Sovereigns _said_ they'd give us a heads-up if anything like an Ultimate crossed through…"

"No," Jenrya answered, making the others look up sharply because of the unexpected seething in his voice. "It wasn't a Digimon. It was _him," _and he gestured with his chin at the still-sleeping Yashida.

The others looked shocked for a moment. Janyuu stood up, crossing over to put a hand on his son's shoulder. His mouth opened, but he was interrupted by the _ding_ of an elevator.

Takehiro Matsuda, looking very drawn and bedraggled, entered the room. The Tamers stood up, intending to ask about Takato, but at that moment a huge wallscreen flickered to life. Riley said, "Just in time, Matsuda-san. We're about to see what really happened to your son."

Riley had set it so the video began just before Takato was knocked off his bike by the dog, and ended when the ambulance arrived and white-clad paramedics began to load Takato into the gurney. Ruki could be seen arguing with a paramedic, before shoving him aside and climbing into the back of the ambulance. Jenrya followed suit, shrugging apologetically at the paramedic as he did. As the ambulance drove out of the screen, the video was replaced by static.

Silence reigned for a moment, before angry voices rose around the table. The look on Takehiro's face was indecipherable. But somehow, despite all that, Ruki heard Yamaki's quiet voice.

"Well, that's a relief."

She turned to him, incredulous that he could say anything good about the video. "Relief?"

"Yes, a relief." Yamaki snapped his lighter closed with a more emphatic sound than usual. "Do you know how many people saw Growlmon rampaging and firing attacks? When you're in a Digital Field, attacks are shielded from the outside world, but you _weren't_."

"People managed to take _video._ This police-cam is the only one close-up, but Growlmon was visible from blocks away, and news crews have converged on the park. We've served restraining orders to all the television stations – no one's going to broadcast footage on it, but no one can keep people from talking. If word got out that a Digimon attacked a human _unprovoked_, we would have a…" Yamaki visibly choked down whatever word he was going to use. "…a big problem."

"At least," he said to the now-silent people around the table, "we have some justification for Growlmon now. It's still going to be a…" he choked down his words again, "controversy, but I think we'll be alright."

"Why are we worrying about _Growlmon?!"_ Ruki cried, incensed. "He didn't do anything wrong! It was that bitch Yana and her damned stupid flunkies who caused all of this!"

Her words re-ignited the uproar Yamaki's had stilled.

"Yana? Who's Yana?!"

"This guy's named Yana? God, what were his parents thinking?"

"No, stupid, it's not a guy, it's a girl, didn't you hear Ruki?"

"That's an ugly girl, then…"

"Ruki! Your language!"

Ruki ignored the others as she shook Yashida awake, explaining as she did so, "This isn't Yana, idiots. Yana's the…" here she threw in a descriptive phrase that caused another motherly outburst from Rumiko. "…who ordered Yashida to beat up my boyfriend!"

Yamaki raised an eyebrow. "So you two are dating now?" Riley giggled, but the look on Ryo's face was odd. Luckily for him, he had schooled it back to normal before anyone noticed. Or so he thought.

"Uuuugh…" Yashida mumbled as he was shaken back to awareness. "Hey, stop shaking me, you…" He suddenly realized where he was and looked around himself, eyes growing wider as he noticed his strange surroundings and the several unfriendly and downright threatening faces looking at him. "Ummm…ow!" he said as Ruki released her hold on his shirt, causing his head to fall back down onto the table.

"Mr…Yashida, was it?" said Yamaki, his gravelly voice causing goosebumps to spring up on the boy's arms. "I have some questions to ask you concerning your attack on a certain Takato Matsuda…"

"H…hey, what're you? Cops or something?" Yashida asked nervously, shrinking away from Yamaki. "I don't need to talk to you…I'm only a kid…it was just a prank…"

"A prank? A prank?!" Takehiro, silent until now, suddenly said loudly. He stood abruptly, his chair almost falling over. All eyes darted to him. "Your _prank_, as you call it, put my son in the hospital! Your prank put my son in a _coma_!"

Yashida's face grew pale, as did a few others. Takehiro glared furiously, more _through_ Yashida than at him, but his sudden animation lasted only a moment. Every trace of fire and life seemed to pour out of him as he slumped back into his chair, bowing his head and pressing the heels of his hands against his forehead. "Put my son in a coma…" Takehiro mumbled again, threading his fingers through his hair and rumpling it even more.

An errant thought, totally irrelevant, crossed Ruki's numb mind as she watched him. _Takato always does the same thing when he's stressed. _

"A coma?" Yamaki's eyes narrowed. "That makes this a bit more serious…"

* * *

Ruki couldn't remember when she'd left the room, but she found herself in an long, empty corridor. Why had she come out here? She looked to the right, then to the left, trying to see if there was anything here she might have been looking for. There was nothing, just the white fluorescent light and the scent of air-conditioning and carpeting.

'_…put my son in a coma!'_

Ruki clenched her fists. She felt filled with pent-up energy, like she had been just before Growlmon had roared, all fidgety. At least then, she hadn't known anything was wrong…_yet_. She began to pace, up and down the hall, her strides long and jerky. She knew Renamon was nearby, but the Digimon kept silent – for which Ruki was thankful.

"I'm sorry, Ruki."

The unexpected voice brought the girl's head up sharply. "Mom? You…what are you saying sorry for?"

Rumiko stood nearby, watching Ruki with sad eyes nearly the same color as hers. "Yana…Yana Lang, right? I heard you complaining about her before, but I thought you were over-reacting. I'm sorry, Ruki, for not doing…_something."_

"Mom." Ruki stopped her pacing and sighed. "It…it isn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything, anyway. She's been careful never to have been caught, to look bad. And you couldn't have known…even I didn't expect Yana to sink _this_ low."

Ruki's face twisted, then, into an expression of such rage that Rumiko felt a cold chill in her stomach. No child – much less _her _child – should ever have reason to look like _that. _Without another word, she stepped forward, enfolding her child in a hug such as she hadn't dared to give Ruki ever since she had been a very small girl.

"Mom…?!"

"Ruki-chan, I know you're angry," Rumiko murmured, still hugging her daughter. "And this Yana does deserve to be punished – what she did was reprehensible. But, my darling, the punishment you're thinking of isn't the right course to take."

Ruki stiffened and nearly shoved out of her mother's arms. "So, you're going to give me the old 'violence doesn't solve anything' speech…?"

"I know you and I have different views on this," Rumiko told her daughter, voice uncharacteristically stern. "And I do accept that your fighting with your Digimon is important, and that you know more about real battle than I do. But Ruki-chan, _this_ is a situation where violence really will not solve anything."

"But…!"

"Didn't you hear Yamaki-san inside? People are scared of your Digimon. You can't take your anger out on her physically, even by yourself – then _you'd_ be punished, and Yana would look like a victim. Besides," Rumiko said, and her voice was so like Ruki's when she was about to lay down a devastating card that both Ruki and Renamon were startled. "I think I know what would make Yana really be _punished_, more than anything physical you could do to her."

Rumiko brandished her cellphone like a person waving a gun and grinned at Ruki, whose wide eyes caused her mother's grin to become more pronounced. "Tsk, tsk, Ruki. You underestimate me. There are people in the modeling business as catty, I bet, as Yana. You don't survive this long without learning ways to handle them."

* * *

**AN**

Aagh, I missed the deadline. Sorry! (grins apologetically) ;; This chapter was really hard to write. I tried to make it funnier, cos after all that's the main point of this fic, but I'm not all that pleased with it…but by now I'm just trying to keep this story rolling. And hopefully wrap it all up soon.

I feel that this scene could have been handled in a different, probably better way. I _like_ this idea, the whole _public sentiment against Digimon_ thing. Maybe I'll try it again in another fic.

I like Rumiko. At least the one here. She's not very fleshed out in the Tamers episodes, actually none of the parents are really except maybe Janyuu, but despite (or maybe because) of her obsession with fashion and so on, I think she could be a rather interesting character. I don't know if this is _because_ or _in spite of_ my own mother being very much like her in some ways (well, from the glimpses we have). And she can't really be all that bad, can she? I mean, Ruki must have gotten _something_ from her mom.

I made up the card Ruki slashed at the beginning. I hope there's something similar. I've never actually _seen_ any Digimon cards. Is there someplace I could get the lowdown on the game?

Yes, to all the people who mentioned it: Yashida Imato is Yamato's name scrambled. If anyone remembers, in my old profile I mentioned that I didn't really like his character. When I'm stuck on names for new characters, I base them on the names of either favored or hated people, depending on what the _new_ character is supposed to be. Yana's another scramble. Shutaro Mendo's based off, by the by, _Urusei Yatsura_. This character I actually like, in a '_boy it's fun to see him suffer!' _kind of way.

Wow, presidential elections (my first, I mean the first held while I was of age to vote) _and_ finishing this chapter on the same day. Cool.

I hope FPJ doesn't win.

I will now stop putting in political notes that no one really cares about, and move onto the next chapter blurb.

**Next chapter: **Yana gets hers, Rumiko teaches her daughter a thing or two about subtler revenge, and St. Hebreke's gets turned upside down. Due, hopefully, by **May 14, 2004. **

**

* * *

**

**PS: **This is actually v.2 of the chapter. I was going to post it about seven hours ago, but my dad blew his top, flatly forbade any usage of the computer and the Net, and so I was unable to do anything. So I rewrote it on my laptop. As I type this, I am setting my alarm clock to 3 AM. Then I will sneak downstairs, go online, and pray my dad doesn't catch me. Obviously, if you're reading this, then I must have succeeded in some fashion. If I don't post on the deadline, that probably means I _was_ caught. Heh. ;;


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